Man United News: Louis Van Gaal Wants Barcelona star, United Lead The Race For Khedira

Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal could make a bid for Barcelona center back Gerard Pique in the January transfer window. According to Daily Star, the Dutchman is considering a £20m bid for the Spanish defender.

United have struggled defensively this season which was evident in Monday’s 2-2 draw with West Brom. Their defenders made key mistakes for which they were duly punished. The likes of Phil Jones, Johnny Evans and Chris Smalling have been poor so far in the center back positions. The full backs haven’t impressed either.

Pique spent 4 years in Manchester from 2004 to 2008, but couldn’t get into the 1st team ahead of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. He jumped the ship and moved to Barcelona when they made an offer for him. Since then, he has established himself as a world class defender for both club and country.

The 27-year old moved back to Catalunya for a reported £5m, and the first thing that comes to anyone’s mind is that it’ll definitely take more than £20m to convince Barcelona to part ways with the defender, especially when he is contracted till 2019.

Pique has made over 270 appearances for Barcelona since joining them in 2008.

Khedira linked with Manchester United

The Daily Star also reported that United are in the hunt for a defensive midfielder and Sami Khedira could be an option despite his high wages. Khedira, who was linked with Arsenal in the summer, is apparently ‘desperate’ to leave the club, and will do so in the summer as a free agent since there are no ongoing discussions regarding a contract renewal.

If the German will leave the club as a free agent, then Arsenal could come back for him as they’ll be willing to pay the £200,000-per-week wages since they’ll get him for free. At the moment though, anything is possible as he could turn around and sign a contract with Real Madrid.