‘Terrible’ offer for Kieran Trippier emerges to leave Man Utd deal in doubt
Manchester United must seriously improve their opening offer for Kieran Trippier if they are to have any chance of bringing the Atletico Madrid full-back back to the Premier League.
Trippier, 30, ended a four-year spell with Tottenham when signing for the Spaniards in the summer of 2019. He had made 114 appearances for the north Londoners but seemed to lose his way and a move suited all. It appeared to be the right decision as the former Burnley man enjoyed 53 LaLiga starts across two campaigns in Spain.
He enjoyed LaLiga title success with Atleti last season and also earned a place in England’s Euro 2020 squad.
While that ultimately ended in final disappointment for England, the move could earn him a return to the Premier League.
As such, United’s interest in signing Trippier has been well documented.
With Jadon Sancho as good as done and Raphael Varane close, Trippier is likely to be United’s next transfer priority.
Clearly Atletico will not let him leave without a fight. They have a €40m (£34.5m) exit clause in his deal and will seek as close to that as possible before letting him leave.
Knowing that the player is keen to move, United have been accused of submitting a “terrible” opening bid of just £6.9m.
That’s according to Jan-Aage Fjortoft, the former Premier League striker now working in TV.
Fjortoft told ESPN FC: “Trippier, the last thing from that was he has a €40m clause. Apparently Manchester United made an offer that was very below €40m, more like one fifth of €40m, so it was a terrible offer.
“They will probably come back to him.”
That ties in with previous claims by ESPN that United are ‘unwilling to meet’ Trippier’s asking price.
As such, they are going to have to seriously raise that offer if they are to have chance of signing the 30-year-old.
Fjortoft, however, did have a more positive answer when questioned about United’s move for Varane.
“They need a defender, they need a central defender in Varane,” he added.
“I think that is going to be a perfect signing for them.
“Then Ole Gunnar can play more offensively, he wouldn’t have to play [Scott] McTominay and Fred to hide [Victor] Lindelof, and sometimes [Harry] Maguire as well – they haven’t been so good together.”
Atletico eye three Trippier replacements
With Atletico expecting Trippier to leave, they have drawn up a list of three replacements at right-back.
As per AS, Diego Simeone is targeting Wolves’ Nelson Semedo or Napoli right-back Giovanni di Lorenzo should Trippier leave.
Norwich full-back Max Aarons has also been touted as another option, though is rated at £40m by Norwich.
Trippier, meanwhile, is grateful to Simeone for bettering his game.
He told Marca: “I have improved a lot, especially in my defending.
“With [Diego] Simeone, I have matured as a player and I have gained a lot of experience.
“It has been two great years in La Liga.”
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