Manchester United must pay €80 million release clause to sign Morten Hjulmand

Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim is trying to block the sale of Morten Hjulmand as he considers him too important to lose this summer.

The Red Devils have been linked to the Dane due to his fine performances in Portugal and United’s midfield’s glaring troubles.

Casemiro has just come off one of the worst, if not the worst, season of his career and he has been linked to a move away from Old Trafford, most likely to Saudi Arabia.

Sofyan Amrabat’s future is also up in the air and the most likely outcome seems to be that the player will be sent back to Fiorentina when his loan deal is up at the end of the month.

This leaves United’s defensive midfield area distinctly threadbare and they have been linked to a move for the Dane.

In fact, June has seen the news that the player is a priority target and in a recent interview he revealed his desire to play in the Premier League and was gushing about Manchester United’s captain, Bruno Fernandes.

However, reports by Portuguese paper Correio da Manhã claim that Rúben Amorim considers Morten Hjulmand “essential for the next season” and does not want to lose the player despite “intense” interest from other clubs.

Tottenham, Man United and Barcelona are “in the front line” to sign the 24 year old according to the the report and the two first “count on” his desire to play in the Premier League to try to convince him to move.

However, Sporting will not be moved and reportedly will not sell unless his €80 million release clause is met.

Fellow Portuguese paper Record also interestingly back this news up that they will not be open to negotiations and any interested party would have to refer to the release clause.

There is always the possibility that the player could push for a move or perhaps a strong performance in the Euros for Denmark could convince even more teams to get involved in an auction for him, which might tempt Sporting to sell below the clause if they can still secure a high price.

However, with United also reportedly moving for Joao Neves at Benfica, United may need to choose between which player they feel they need more.

Moreover, INEOS reportedly will not allow the club to spend more than £60 million on one player, which if true would clearly make it impossible to meet Hjulmand’s release clause.

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