Manchester United Step Up Interest in Porto’s Alex Telles
By Ross Jackson
Manchester United are keen to secure the services of Porto defender Alex Telles, with the player’s agent understood to have travelled to Manchester to discuss a deal.
Telles has previously been on the radar of a number of Premier League clubs, with Chelsea and Leicester both said to have been monitoring the 27-year-old.
Portuguese newspaper A Bola (via Sport Witness) claim that the Red Devils are the latest side to lodge an interest in the left-back, with the player’s representatives eager to thrash out a deal.
The Brazilian has just one year remaining on his current deal, meaning United are likely to pay less than the €30m (£27m) Paris Saint-Germain recently considered paying for the Porto man.
A product of the Juventude academy in Bazil, Telles moved to European football in 2013 when he joined Serie A side Grêmio. After just one year in Italy the full-back signed for Turkish side Galatasary before moving to Porto in 2016.
Telles has become renowned for his offensive style of play, so much so that only one Porto player scored more than him in the 2019/20 Primeira Liga campaign.
His displays have seen him earn international recognition with Brazil, receiving his only cap for the national team in March 2019.
Should a deal be agreed between Porto and United it would provide Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with some much-needed full-back cover.
The United boss currently has two senior left-backs to choose from in Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams. However, his tendency to deploy Shaw on the left of a back three makes Williams Solskjaer's sole remaining left-back.
Recent reports suggest that the United manager is keen to bolster his options at full-back and is also hoping to bring in another central defender before the 2020/21 season begins.
United kick off the campaign at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday 19 September.