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Manchester United are likely to move for a left-back during the January transfer window, but the Red Devils face major competition from Liverpool for top target Adrien Truffert, according to a report.
With only Luke Shaw a natural in the left-back role, Man Utd need additional cover in what is proving to be a problem position.
United missed out on Newcastle’s Lewis Hall in the summer and have since made Bournemouth’s Truffert their leading transfer target – but landing the France international promises to be a challenge because of the volume of interest in him.
Man Utd’s interest confirmed
United’s interest in Truffert has previously been established by The Athletic‘s David Ornstein, who confirmed: “Truffert has a really good age profile [he’s 25 in November]. He’s the sort of player that you could see moving.
“Manchester United were one team that we talked about with left-backs over the window, and there will be more. It is going to be an interesting one.
“I’m hearing a value of around £60m and that there’s potentially a deal to be done next summer.
“I could see him being capable of playing for one of the biggest clubs.”
TeamTalk has now confirmed that both Man Utd and Liverpool are aiming to sign Truffert, who is said to be the only member of their four-man shortlist who “wowed” scouts.
Bournemouth are not ready to make a move easy, though. The Cherries are ready to reject any offers in the January transfer window, with Marco Rose’s side aiming to go deep in the Europa League.
Furthermore, Truffert will not be cheap. The south coast side are ready to put a price tag of around €70 million (£60m) on the player.
His club know that with few options on the market, they can drive a hard bargain, even with Truffert’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) currently sitting at €43.7m.
Truffert is an upgrade on Shaw
Truffert’s form for France, meanwhile, backs up his early season form in the Premier League for Bournemouth. Data analytics firm SciSports rates him as the best-performing full-back in England’s top flight, with the caveat that the data sample size is not yet big enough to draw any definitive conclusions based on this season’s form alone.
However, over the longer term, the former Rennes player is already seen as an upgrade on Shaw based on his SciSkill, which is calculated using hundreds of in-game data points.
Furthermore, the forecast for Truffert’s future is looking increasingly bright. He is in a period of ‘rapid growth’, according to SciSports, and his ceiling is being reassessed upwards rapidly on a consistent basis. Among Premier League left-backs with a SciSkill of over 100, only Nico Reilly’s potential is growing faster.
Truffert’s ascent comes at a time when Hall’s ceiling is dropping rapidly. The Newcastle star’s peak is now estimated at 120.7, which is above Truffert’s 114.0, but has dropped from 127.1 over the last six months.
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