Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has identified left wingback as a position in need of urgent reinforcement with both Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui struggling to provide the attacking thrust required.
The Portuguese tactician had initially earmarked Nuno Mendes as the perfect signing owing to their past history at Sporting Lisbon and the fact that his contract was getting over in 2026.
That meant the Red Devils could potentially land the “quality” wingback on the cheap with the 22-year-old also keen to reunite with his former manager.
However, there have been reports that the Portugal international was close to agreeing new terms with Paris Saint-Germain, even though no official announcement has yet to be made, which prompted United to leave the chase.
Nuno Mendes race over with Real Madrid now eyeing him
Defensa Central have claimed that Real Madrid are ready to take advantage and just like they did with Kylian Mbappe, they will begin working on the signing so that Mendes can potentially arrive on a free once his deal gets over.
They believe they can convince the full-back to forego a lucrative new deal with the Ligue 1 giants in favour of joining the Galacticos of Real.
“After the failure to sign Alphonso Davies, Real Madrid have already begun to consider other options that may arise in the market. One player who is very popular is Nuno Mendes, the Portuguese player from Paris Saint-Germain.
“In recent seasons, Florentino Pérez has been trying to sign players as free agents. Alaba, Rüdiger, Mbappé, Alexander-Arnold. These are some of the examples.
“But this is something that does not always work. It has been seen with Leny Yoro and also with Alphonso Davies. But even so, they do not plan to change their way of working.
United now need to land Dorgu for Amorim
“It will all depend on what Mendes values most. If he prefers a big salary to a big sporting project, he will renew with Paris Saint-Germain. If not, he could join Real Madrid. The club hopes he can arrive on a free transfer in 2026. He would be 25 years old and would have many years of football left in the elite.”
As for the 20-time English league champions, they have moved on and are currently locked in talks with Lecce over Patrick Dorgu with the Serie A giants playing hardball over his price.
They have promised a huge wage increase to the Dane to get the deal over the line but so far, INEOS have already seen two of their bids rejected.
With Mendes also out of the reckoning, the club have been forced to look at former United academy graduate Alvaro Carreras, who is currently at Benfica. They could exercise their buyback clause to get at least one option in for the new coach.
Feature image Julian Finney via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
