Thomas Tuchel has his eye on one of Erik ten Hag’s fringe players
Bayern Munich have approached Manchester United to discuss a potential swap deal that would see the two sides exchange out-of-favour midfielders, according to reports in Germany.
Both teams are looking to strengthen in the middle of the pitch before the transfer window closes on Thursday, with Thomas Tuchel having bemoaned his lack of a number six for most of the summer.
Erik ten Hag, similarly, has been looking for a dynamic number eight capable of dovetailing with Casemiro – with that need only increasing following an injury to Mason Mount.
It appears the two clubs may be able to solve each other’s problems, with German newspaper BILD reporting that Bayern have proposed a swap deal between Scott McTominay and Ryan Gravenberch.
McTominay has fallen significantly down the pecking order recently and even the injury to Mount appears to have done little to improve his situation, with Christian Eriksen preferred to the Scotland international against Nottingham Forest.
The 26-year-old was only introduced in the 85th minute as United looked to cling on to their slender lead in the match, his second sub appearance of the season.
United had been open to selling McTominay this summer but did not receive any bids close to their asking price, with suitors Newcastle and West Ham signing Sandro Tonali and Edson Alvarez respectively instead.
McTominay is only on the fringes of Ten Hag’s thinking at present (Picture: Getty)
It looked as though the Scot would end up staying at Old Trafford purely to provide cover, but now Bayern are making a late push to land him.
Tuchel has been looking for a new defensive midfielder since the end of last season when he tried to convince Declan Rice to move to Bavaria, though the England international ultimately decided to move to Arsenal in a £105m deal.
Bayern broke their transfer record to sign Harry Kane instead, leaving little money left in the kitty to land a defensive midfielder, and – much to Tuchel’s annoyance – it appeared as though he would have to make do without a new midfield addition.
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But now Bayern are trying to secure McTominay on loan, who has similar characteristics to Rice and is rated by Tuchel – but they are conscious that United will only sanction a deal if they can land a replacement.
As such, they have proposed a swap of sorts, with Gravenberch – who is highly rated by Ten Hag having played under the Dutchman at Ajax – going the other way on loan.
Gravenberch worked under Ten Hag at Ajax (Picture: Getty)
Although the 21-year-old has barely played under Tuchel, making just three Bundesliga starts since moving to the Allianz Arena last summer, Bayern still believe he will come good and are reluctant to sell, so will therefore only sanction a loan.
The two clubs have a good relationship from last January’s window, when Marcel Sabitzer moved to Old Trafford on deadline day.
Gravenberch, who is also wanted by Liverpool, was asked about his future on Sunday after coming off the bench against Augsburg and replied: ‘I don’t know what will happen in the next few days.’