Man Utd to hijack Arsenal's £13m pursuit of ace defender as Van Gaal discusses options

Daniele Rugani played for Italy at the U21 European Championships this summer

MANCHESTER UNITED have joined the race to sign Juventus' unwanted defender Daniele Rugani, according to reports.

 

Rugani, 21, has made just one appearance for Juve since joining the club from Empoli in the summer.

That was a last-minute substitution in their already-won 2-0 victory over Sevilla in the Champions League.

"Daniele has a bright future ahead of him, but Juventus have three or four of the best centre-backs in Europe," Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri insisted last week.

"It’s beyond doubt he is the future of Juventus.

"Right now he needs patience and to continue training.”

Italian newspaper Tuttosport claim United are prepared to end Rugani's miserable stay in Turin and with a January swoop.

 

In doing so, manager Louis van Gaal will upset Arsenal's transfer ambitions.

The Gunners are understood to have sounded out Rugani as a possible signing to cover centre-back pairing Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker.

Italian sides Fiorentina and Sampdoria are also said to be eyeing the defender but United, having added just one recruit to their back line over the summer, are in need of reinforcements

 

Indeed, Van Gaal himself spoke out yesterday about bolstering his squad - although his focus was further up the field.

"I have said already in my first year many times we need speed and creativity on the wings," the Dutchman said.

“You have seen that now we play with Jesse Lingard and he is not the most speedy winger in the world and Mata is also not the most speedy winger in the world.

“So first we must first finish that problem and then we can see how we have to play and how we are in balance with playing with speedy wingers.”