Manchester United have reportedly received a bid from Napoli of approximately £67million for Alejandro Garnacho, who they tried and failed for in January.

Garnacho, 20, has the makings of a quality attacker if he can become a little bit more consistent. With 41 direct goal contributions in 131 United games, he is clearly a useful asset.

But his role has changed since Ruben Amorim walked into Old Trafford as manager, with positions in the attack altering slightly in a different system, and Garnacho sometimes being benched.

In January it was possible he could have been sold, with Chelsea and Napoli both going after the Argentine, but neither club met United’s £70million valuation.

Napoli are refusing to back down, though, and could now entice the Red Devils into the sale. According to reports in Spain, they have lodged a bid of €80million (£67m approx) for Garnacho.

Described as an ‘attractive offer’, given it is close to what United wanted to make from the winger in the winter, it seems there’s a chance Napoli could land their top target.

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In the midst of a rebuild of their attack since the sale of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain, the European giants clearly see Garnacho as a key piece in their future.

The report suggests the strength of the offer could indeed make United consider the sale.

Recent reports have suggested that Chelsea remain keen on Garnacho, though, while Atletico Madrid are said to have joined the race, as they see the winger as an ideal addition to their attack.

He would seemingly be a great replacement for Giuliano Simeone if he’s to leave, with Chelsea having reportedly lodged a bid for the 22-year-old winger in the last few days.

READ MORE: Man Utd striker search: Gyokeres reunion talk ‘tepid’ with Red Devils ‘to go a shade younger’

Man Utd have selected five players to replace Bruno Fernandes if the Red Devils captain leaves for Real Madrid in the summer, according to reports.

The Red Devils are having a season to forget with Ruben Amorim’s side currently 13th in the Premier League after the Portuguese head coach replaced Erik ten Hag in November.

Performances and results have failed to improve under Amorim and it looks unlikely they will qualify for Europe next season unless they win the Europa League.

Man Utd boss Amorim will be hoping to be given money in the summer to reconstruct his squad, while keeping all of his best players at the club.

But, with the financial situation at Man Utd currently bleak, the Red Devils could have to sell some of its prized assets in order to raise funds to bring in other players.

A report last week claimed that Real Madrid were prepared to pay £90m in the summer transfer window to lure Man Utd captain Fernandes to the Bernabeu.

But responding to the rumours, Man Utd boss Amorim said on Monday: “He’s not going anywhere because I’ve already told him.”

Amorim added: “No. It’s not happening. We’ve had low points this season but I want Bruno here as we want to win the league again.”

READ: Bruno Fernandes may never be a Man Utd legend but would be a Real Madrid winner

However, Spanish publication Fichajes claims that Man Utd ‘have identified five players as potential successors’ to Fernandes ‘should the Portuguese midfielder leave the club due to interest from Real Madrid’.

The ‘shortlist’ has been whittled down to five with the Spanish publication claiming Brentford’s Mikkel Damsgaard, Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, Red Bull Salzburg’s Oscar Gloukh and RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons are the players who have been selected as possible targets if Fernandes departs.

The report adds:

‘Real Madrid’s growing interest in Fernandes has raised concerns at Old Trafford. Sources close to the club claim that Real Madrid is seriously considering the Portuguese signing, which could lead to a formal offer in the coming months.

‘This situation is particularly relevant given United’s financial difficulties, which have recently implemented drastic cost-cutting measures, including layoffs and increased ticket prices.

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‘In anticipation of Fernandes’ possible departure, United’s football management is working on a succession plan. Damsgaard stands out for his technique and creativity in the final third, while Eze and Gibbs-White provide physical presence and attacking power from the second line.

‘Gloukh is distinguished by his intelligent distribution, and Simons is considered one of the most promising players in European football, with experience in top-flight leagues such as the Bundesliga and the Eredivisie.’

Journalist Paco Gonzalez, who was speaking to Cope’s Tiempo de Juego, stopped short of ruling a transfer to Real Madrid out but insists the Spanish club aren’t going to pay Man Utd £90m for a 30-year-old.

Gonzalez said: “Today they published in England that Real Madrid wants Bruno Fernandes and has made an offer of £90m. He’s 30 years old, he’s very good.

“Maybe many teams ask for a pass to watch a game, but maybe it’s a scout that Real Madrid has for England or a man going to see someone else.

“But for a 30-year-old guy, Madrid paying 90 million, knowing the calculations Florentino Perez has in his head, that signings have to be paid off and they have to be young, seems impossible to me. If they’re free, I mean, if they arrive for free, yes. If not, well, no way.”

Troy Deeney has warned Arsenal that striker target Viktor Gyokeres is not a “natural finisher” and he will not help them to win the Premier League or “they’d have already bought him”.

Gyokeres already has 42 goals in all competitions this season. That includes six Champions League goals in eight games – a better tally than he scored in last season’s Europa League.

That suggests he’s moving on with each level, and he’s only one goal off his entire tally for last season already, supporting that.

New Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta is said to be a long-term admirer of the Sporting CP striker, with the Gunners developing a strong interest.

But former Premier League forward Deeney feels that interest is misplaced, with Gyokeres not up to standard.

“You know when you say something the clip is going to come back in six months,” Deeney said on talkSPORT.

“I genuinely think he’s a good footballer, he works really hard, all of that. But I don’t think he’s a natural finisher.

“And again, everyone is going to pull up his goal record, I get that. But I don’t think he takes either of those two [Arsenal or Manchester United] to winning the Premier League.

“That’s just my opinion, and if he did, they’d have already bought him.”

Gyokeres has 85 goals in the last two seasons, with the second of those obviously not complete yet. He has also scored 15 goals in 26 international appearances, and in his last season in England with Coventry, he bagged 22 goals, suggesting he is indeed a natural finisher.

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One of the reasons he has not already been bought is surely that his price tag has changed of late. Gyokeres’ release clause is at €100million (£83.6m approx) but insider Fabrizio Romano has suggested he’ll more likely be sold at €65m-€70m (£54.4m-£58.5m).

While he’s one of the most in-form strikers in the world, clubs would not have wanted to overpay for no reason, knowing that a side like Sporting would probably drop the price to ensure they receive a decent fee.

In any case, Deeney reiterates we’ll “find out” that the Premier League is not the same as Liga Portugal when Gyokeres arrives.

READ MORE: Arsenal face long fight to keep Saka fit after hamstring ordeal: ‘They will be extremely cautious’

And to our enormous relief it really is a Big Midweek after the interlull and FA Cup quarter-final weekend.

A warm welcome back to the Premier League. We are very sorry we were so mean about you.

Game to watch: Liverpool v Everton
No pressure, everyone, but we will insist this be every bit as entertainingly unhinged as the Goodison game. In essence, if the week after this match isn’t filled with Reach websites pretending Liverpool might get a points deduction, then we will be extremely disappointed.

For very obvious reasons, Liverpool v Everton is always a game to watch, but there is just a smidge more riding on this than might otherwise have been the case. If Arsenal have beaten Fulham on Tuesday night – not a gimme, but let’s just say the Cottagers didn’t hit the ground running on their return after the international break – then suddenly Liverpool’s unassailable 15-point lead has become a nine-point one without Arne Slot’s side so much as muddying their boots in a Premier League game.

Let us not get too bogged down in the Utter Woke Nonsense that is the fact Liverpool haven’t played a league game since March 8 and instead focus on things just going ever so slightly belly up after an absurdly serene season that must have had Slot wondering what precisely all this Barclays fuss is actually about.

That last league outing was itself unconvincing, Liverpool forced to come from behind at home to beat what may yet prove to be the worst Premier League side of all time, and since that awkward Saturday afternoon absolutely ages ago Liverpool’s only football has been to get knocked out of the Champions League by PSG and then totally fail to turn up against a rampant Newcastle in the Carabao final.

By the time they take to the field for the Merseyside derby they will have had 17 days to stew on that particular failure to launch while also potentially seeing Arsenal eat into that admittedly still imposing lead.

Liverpool will still be absolutely fine. They still only need at most 16 points from their last nine games with home games against West Ham and Tottenham and a trip to Leicester offering some nice easy ones along the way for a team that has still only lost once all season in the league.

But there’s no doubt that for the first time all season there is an air of vulnerability about the best team in the country, who now have a bit of ring-rust to contend with as well because football insists on a fixture list where the gaps between matches must always be either far too small or absurdly large, and that in these circumstances there are easier tasks than having to take on a rejuvenated local rival who haven’t lost a game since mid-January (albeit with an 18-day wait since their own most recent outing) and would like nothing more than to shove another stick in the spokes of their neighbours’ title charge.

Big Final Run-in: Liverpool transfer prep, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Maresca, Foden

Team to watch: Chelsea
Still not attracting as much attention as others, but Chelsea are in the midst of another peculiar season and remain a club that appears to have made kooky long contracts its entire personality.

On the pitch it’s a tough season to stand out as a big club engaged in shambling. Chelsea haven’t been as unexpectedly bad as Man City or as hilariously bad as Man United or Spurs. They will, probably, still end up qualifying for the Champions League despite themselves.

But the early-season promise of something approaching a halfway acceptable on-field return for the insane levels of investment have now almost entirely fizzled out. They will probably still win the Europa Conference, but their hearts really don’t look in it.

They have gone out meekly in both domestic cup competitions, revealing some understandable if still unacceptable small-time tendencies from an unarsed Enzo Maresca, who is, we must all take care to remember, still in his first season of top-flight management.

And in the league it’s now just four wins in a 13-game run stretching back to mid-December. And those wins have been against four of the current bottom five.

The good news, though, is that they won’t have to raise their level much – or even at all – upon their return to action because they’re at home to Tottenham and being at home to Tottenham is about as close to a guarantee of a cure for any Chelsea ills as is known to medical science.

Of course, the flipside of that is the unlikely but not impossible scenario in which they don’t in fact win this game, because that really would set alarm bells ringing.

Thomas Tuchel lasted less than a month after failing to beat Tottenham at home back in 2022, and he’d just won the Champions League. Enzo Maresca has not just won the Champions League, and a mistake here in Chelsea’s most bankable home fixture opens the very real possibility that they will once again not be in it next season.

Player to watch: Bukayo Saka
We were already irrationally annoyed about having to wait three more days for a hit of Barclays after the international break and doubly so upon discovering that shunting the whole programme to midweek doesn’t even give us one of the ‘every game live on TV’ treats that we’re all supposed to be grateful for when it should obviously just be the norm.

So there are only actually three games you can watch on TV in the UK, and Arsenal v Fulham isn’t one of them. That means you’ll have to wait for Match of the Day on Wednesday night for a proper chance to watch Bukayo Saka’s long-awaited return from injury there being, ahem, absolutely no, cough, other way around that.

Even in this rather frustrating league season for the Gunners they remain good enough that the loss of their most important player hasn’t derailed them entirely. This is no one-man team and they’ve still lost only one of the 12 Premier League games he’s missed since suffering a hamstring injury at Crystal Palace just before Christmas.

But there’s no doubt that Arsenal have – with one outrageous standout exception – been a slightly duller, less vibrant and less vital team without him. His absence has been keenly felt not just for his own prodigious output but the now clearer than ever way he elevates those around him.

Arsenal thought they missed Martin Odegaard when he was injured earlier in the season. They’ve missed him nearly as much in the last few months and he’s actually been playing. Saka isn’t just a wonderful player, but a wonderful player who makes everyone around him better.

The last few months have shown just why Mikel Arteta has been so reluctant to give Saka any kind of rest, despite the obvious risk that what happened might happened. They just couldn’t afford to be without him.

Arteta says Saka is ‘ready to go’ and we believe it. Quite how far the return of Saka can propel Arsenal over the closing weeks of the season remains to be seen, but the Gunners should at the very least be a more consistently compelling team to watch with their main man back in action.

Manager to watch: Ruben Amorim
The Saka Situation may have made Arteta one of few managers to welcome the extended break between games. Ruben Amorim certainly won’t have welcomed it.

United’s latest corner-turning may have been wildly overstated by a desperate media, but it also isn’t nothing. They have been slightly better than they were, and there are some signs of players at last getting to grips with what really isn’t so outlandish or unusual a set-up that it should have been so very far beyond them for so very long.

The seven-match ‘unbeaten’ run United are on may include an FA Cup penalty shoot-out defeat and only in fact feature wins over Ipswich, Leicester and Real Sociedad but from little acorns and all that.

A trend for United this season has been for them to be just about able to summon up enough to beat the very worst teams in this season’s Premier League – and those teams really are historically bad – while having just enough muscle memory to look vaguely like a Proper Man United Team for games against their old rivals Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and City. They’ve got results against all of them.

But that leaves a whole bunch of clubs in the middle against whom United have generally lost or more recently sometimes drawn. And by definition they now face the very hardest challenge that group of clubs can offer: third-placed Nottingham Forest, away from home.

Get something from this game and maybe Amorim really is on to something at last. Especially with a gimme coming up at the weekend against Man City.

READ: Nottingham Forest vs Man United prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats

Football League game to watch: Doncaster Rovers v Walsall
There’s a full programme of League One and League Two matches to choose from on Tuesday night and, while a second-bottom v second-top Paul Mullin Derby between Cambridge and Wrexham is not without its charms, it’s a clash from the ferociously tight League Two promotion battle that has to get the nod here.

Leaders Walsall have forgotten how to win at an inopportune time. Five draws and a defeat in their last six have left them far less secure than a League Two leader might ordinarily be at this stage of the season with three automatic promotion spots available.

Lose here at fourth-placed Doncaster and they potentially find themselves in the slightly uncomfortable position of having only a two-point cushion over a team with a game in hand.

The good news for both these sides is that as well as fourth v first this midweek round also offers up second-placed Bradford against third-placed Port Vale. Given how tight it all is with just five points separating those four sides – and Wimbledon and Notts County very interested observers a point further back – it’s sure to be a round of games that significantly reshapes the promotion picture one way or another.

European game to watch: Atletico Madrid v Barcelona
Really are spoiled for choice here thanks to some top-tier cup semi-final action. You can even treat yourself to the first half-hour of Milan v Inter in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final first leg before switching over to the second leg of this Copa del Rey semi-final.

We wouldn’t recommend missing the start of this one, though – or indeed any of the rest of it based on a bonkers first leg at the Olympic Stadium that somehow ended all square at 4-4 after Atleti raced out into a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes and then clawed back a 4-2 deficit in the final six.

The revelation that Manchester United ignored a ‘red flag’ to sign Rasmus Hojlund for £64m from Atalanta came as a surprise to absolutely nobody.

His displays for United would suggest said concern may have been related to barn doors and banjos, but apparently Sir Jim Ratcliffe and The Lads needed a ‘data revolution’ to uncover their predecessors’ mistake of paying more for a footballer than he was worth. Probably just look at Transfermarkt, chaps.

Anyway, we then wondered which ‘red flags’ may have been ignored with regard to other signings made by United in the last three seasons. In the main we’ve dug deeper than overpayment, as that’s less a red flag and more what they should have avoided having uncovered the red flag.

Big thanks to the wonderful FBRef, which allowed us to compare the signings with players in their position in the season before they joined United.

Manuel Ugarte (PSG, £50m): Sideways or backwards
“You bring the fight,” Erik ten Hag said, pointing out a ‘United & Fight’ sign to a perplexed Ugarte upon his arrival at Carrington. “It’s normal for me,” the Uruguayan replied.

The jury’s still out on that but he’s definitely not one of your midfield conductors. Ugarte is there to recover the ball and give it to someone who can do something with it. He was in the 27th percentile for progressive passes among midfielders in Ligue 1 while at PSG, who now have the technically brilliant pairing of Joao Neves and Vitinha at the base of their midfield.

Luis Enrique got £50m for a player who he was never going to play, because he recognised – as managers from most top teams have done – that a defensive midfielder needs to be more than a fighter these days.

READ MORE: Ten Premier League stars who proved their clubs are The Problem on international break

Leny Yoro (Lille, £52m): Not a Proper Defender
We’re starting to really enjoy watching him and think he could turn into a top, top Premier League defender, but he needs to do the dirty work as well as the Rolls Royce stuff.

The uptick in physicality should have been the concern given he was in the 25th percentile for tackles and interceptions, the 28th for clearances, the 31st for Aerial duels won and – most remarkably – the 1st percentile for blocks. Yoro was bad at the defending parts of being a defender.

Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich, £43m): < Eric Dier
Not good enough for Juventus and then not good enough for Bayern Munich when Eric Dier was.

Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna, £36m): Bad feet for a big man
Zirkzee’s United career has provided a fascinating insight into the football fan psyche. Jeered off by Red Devils supporters as he was substituted after half an hour against Newcastle. Having then felt sorry for the Dutchman, those same supporters now chant his name if he does so much as control the ball and pass it 10 yards.

That’s by no means a given though as the 23-year-old was in the 21st percentile for miscontrols among forwards in Serie A and in the 16th percentile for the number of times he was dispossessed.

Patrick Dorgu (Lecce, £25m): Can’t beat his man
A tough one to make a direct comparison as the FBRef slackers don’t offer a wing-back comparison, so Dorgu is either up against wingers, who generally have superior attacking stats, or full-backs, who have the better defensive stats. And the task is made even more difficult by Dorgu playing on the wing, as a wing-back and a full-back at Lecce before moving to Old Trafford.

Anyway, given he’s been signed to play as a wing-back, we would have thought he would be more attacking than most full-backs, but he was in the 34th percentile for take-ons attempted, the 19th for successful take-ons and the 11th for successful take-on percentage.

Rasmus Hojlund (Atalanta, £64m): Ronaldo without the goals
He’s also got bad feet for a (not quite so) big man, worse than Zirkzee in fact, having been in the 7th percentile for miscontrols and the 4th for being dispossessed, but more enlightening is his lack of defending from the front.

Among strikers in Serie A he was in the 8th percentile for tackles, 12th for tackles won, 33rd for passes blocked and 15th for interceptions.

READ MORE: Man Utd ignored ‘red flag’ to make £64m signing; ‘data warning undermined’ amid ‘walk away’ plea

Mason Mount (Chelsea, £55m): Can’t shoot or score
The United bosses would have loved a big He’s Injured All The F***ing Time red flag but Mount only missed 18 games through injury at Chelsea before his 50 so far at Old Trafford.

They should though perhaps have been concerned by him being in the 38th percentile for goals and for goals per shot, and the 19th for percentage of shots on target.

Andre Onana (Inter Milan, £44m): Below average shot-stopper
Post-shot expected goals is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot. FBRef explains that positive numbers suggest better luck or an above-average ability to stop shots. Onana had a score of -2.7 in his last season for Inter Milan, which made him 16th in Serie A among goalkeepers to have played more than 100 minutes.

He had the third-lowest goal-kick launch percentage at 30% though, so f*** it.

READ MORE: Who is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League in 24/25?

Antony (Ajax, £82m): His value
Like the time your mate walked into a glass door or any other memory that never fails to make you chuckle, the Ajax chiefs must think back to when Manchester United made their £82m bid for Antony and roll in the halls.

He was worth £30m at the time, which is roughly what the Red Devils now want for him after 12 goals and five assists in 96 appearances.

Casemiro (Real Madrid, £50m): His age
Real Madrid being open to the departure of their five-time Champions League-winning midfielder should have sounded alarm bells. They clearly foresaw a decline that started after a six-month grace period at Old Trafford and then continued apace to the point where a four-year contract which seemed foolhardy to begin with has become one of the biggest sticks to beat the decision-makers with.

Lisandro Martinez (Ajax, £47m): Easily dribbled
Pretty impressive across the board in truth, aside from his ability to stop tricky wingers, with Martinez in the 18th percentile for percentage of dribblers tackled and the 20th for challenges lost, which doesn’t chime all that well with his nickname of ‘The Butcher’.

Tyrell Malacia (Feyenoord, £13m): Too soft
He was 36th percentile for tackles, 16th for tackles in the defensive third, 16th for challenges lost, 26th for interceptions and 8th for clearances, and on the very few occasions he actually played for Manchester United, Malacia didn’t look up for the physical demands of English football.