Man Utd in talks with Dortmund over imposing 6ft 3in midfielder known for driving runs

Manchester United have set their sights on an imposing Borussia Dortmund star known for his driving runs after wisely pulling out of a multi-million pound move for Mateus Fernandes.

Felix Nmecha has now moved up to the top of the list of possible reinforcements this summer with United now having made enquiries to Borussia Dortmund.

An added incentive is that he already knows Manchester having come through Manchester City’s youth system before moving to Germany.

United's sporting director Jason Wilcox also knows the 25-year-old’s talents, having worked with the Germany international when he was City’s academy director.

And it is also reported in Germany by Bild that United are leading the chase for the midfielder. It says that City are also looking at the midfielder as are Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

United have several midfielders on their radar by Nmecha is a particularly interesting option.

He stands at 6ft 3in and so is able to dominate physically while he is also excellent technically. He has quickly developed into one of Europe's most sought-after box-to-box dynamos.

After beginning his development in the youth academy at City he moved to Wolfsburg in 2021.

An impressive season saw him signed by Borussia Dortmund in 2023 for €30 million and he recently extended his contract with them through to June 2030.

Germany's national coach Julian Nagelsmann said of him: "He’s a top player who brings everything needed to be one of the best midfielders in the world. He has so much talent, so much speed, so much dynamism."

United scouts have closely tracked him, and director Christopher Vivell is reportedly in close contact with his representatives in a bid to shore up personal terms.

The stumbling block as is usually the case will be his transfer fee. Dortmund are looking at £85 million for the player while United don't want to spend more than £50-£65 million.

And for that reason they are looking at other options like Bournemouth's Alex Scott but again they will have to negotiate hard to get the price down.