Man United's £42m bid looks enough to complete defender transfer

Spanish newspaper AS said a couple of days ago that Real Madrid were well aware their new captain Sergio Ramos wanted to move to Manchester United but weren't willing to sell him. That wasn't the end of the story for them, they went on to say that his relationship had completely broken down with Florentino Perez and that manager Rafa Benitez would have to try and be a peacemaker if Ramos was to stay at the Spanish club beyond the current transfer window.

In today's newspaper they explain that Manchester United are coming back with another bid, this time for €60m, which works out to be £42m. AS say that would be Manchester United's second bid after an earlier one of €45m, and they believe there's some optimism that it could be accepted.

Ramos is said to still be firm in his intention to leave Real Madrid this summer, regardless of whether he's the new captain or not, and he's keen on the Manchester United move. The Premier League club have decided to unlink the transfers of De Gea and Ramos, say AS, and therefore they'll send their €60m offer within the coming days, thinking it will be enough to get a deal done.

AS interestingly don't say it won't be enough, despite Real Madrid originally wanting €90m. The fee would make Ramos the most expensive defender of all time, eclipsing what PSG paid for David Luiz last summer. Real Madrid could then take that as some kind of victory, especially if De Gea eventually turned up too. Manchester United would see it as a victory too, and all sides would walk away feeling they'd got one over on the other.