Report: Manchester United actually lead Liverpool in race to sign 'excellent' £85m star, talks now open

By Sam Preston

Manchester United lead the race for Benfica striker Darwin Nunez despite the interest intensifying from Liverpool.

90Min claim that despite talks being open between Anfield and the Uruguay striker, United are ahead in the chase for his signature.

United cannot offer Champions League football but have more history in terms paying bumper fees for players and are keen to bolster their squad for new manager Erik ten Hag.

Nunez is valued at £85 million by Benfica, which would be a club record deal for Liverpool.

Manchester United lead Nunez chase

The report suggests that super agent Jorge Mendes holds the key to Nunez’s future and that United have done some work to that end already.

They have held extensive talks with Mendes, who of course looks after Cristiano Ronaldo among plenty of other stars across the world.

Back in April, it was reported that Nunez had moved his representation over to Mendes, with an eye on making his big move this summer.

That said, Liverpool have proved themselves to be sharper and quicker in the transfer market than United in recent windows, and there have been major changes behind the scenes at Old Trafford this summer already.

That means it is far from beyond Liverpool to make up the ground, if they really decide that Nunez is the man they want to replace Sadio Mane.

Nunez is ‘excellent‘ and looks set to be one of the most talked about players in the transfer market this summer.

Why are United ahead in the race? It seems they have spent longer working on it, while Liverpool are reacting to the developing Mane situation.

Liverpool are surely the more attractive option right now, with United in the Europa League, but will they stump up the bumper offer it takes to land him?