Manchester United\u2019s search for a midfield solution has led them to Barcelona\u2019s Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez, but the Spanish club are not expected to make any deal straightforward.<\/p>\n
The Daily Mail reports that United view the 23-year-old as a serious option as they weigh up an ambitious move. Ferm\u00edn\u2019s output last season underlined why he has drawn interest, with 13 goals and 17 assists across all competitions. He has already added five goals and four assists this season, further strengthening his reputation as a creative midfielder who can also arrive in the box.<\/p>\n
That profile helps explain why he is being discussed as a possible long-term successor to Bruno Fernandes. The United captain is out of contract at the end of the season, although there is an option for another 12 months in the deal.<\/p>\n
The report places Ferm\u00edn\u2019s valuation at around \u00a370 million ($94 million), though Barcelona may still resist even at that level. Interest in the midfielder has been building for weeks, with several clubs across Europe said to be monitoring his situation at Camp Nou. Chelsea remain among those who have tracked him closely, after an unsuccessful bid of \u20ac40 million ($45 million) last summer.<\/p>\n
Despite the noise around his future, Fabrizio Romano says there is no doubt inside Barcelona. Club officials are said to view him as a central figure now and later, while the player himself is understood to be very happy after signing a new five-year contract with the La Liga leaders.<\/p>\n
The report states Ferm\u00edn will \u201c100%\u201d remain with Barcelona.<\/p>\n
If United are indeed looking at him as a Fernandes replacement, they may need to turn to other names. The same report suggests that, should the club have the budget to explore this level of signing, alternatives could include Como\u2019s Nico Paz or Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barcelona are confident over Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez, leaving Manchester United to consider other midfield options instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1017,2028,1163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barcelona","category-manchester-united-transfer-news","category-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}