4 months ago
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Bayer Leverkusen have set their asking price for Jonathan Tah amid strong interest from Manchester United for the defender this summer.
United fended off stiff competition from Real Madrid to wrap up a £52million deal for highly rated Lille youngster Leny Yoro, 18, and the Old Trafford giants are keen to sign another centre-back before the transfer deadline.
Matthijs de Ligt, 24, is another player understood to be high up on United’s shortlist of targets at centre-half. However, the Red Devils’ opening offer of around £30m was rejected for the Netherlands international, with the bid though to be £15m shy of Bayern Munich’s valuation.
The Red Devils have therefore been forced to consider alternatives at the heart of defence and recent reports emanating out of Germany claimed Leverkusen stalwart Tah had been approached over a proposed switch to the Theatre of Dreams.
Bayern have also been exploring a deal for Tah but have so far come up short in their attempts to reach an agreement with Leverkusen, who ended their 11-year reign as Bundesliga champions last term.
According to BILD, Leverkusen have slapped a €40m (£33.5m) price tag on Tah after turning down Bayern’s initial bid of €18m (£15m) for the 28-year-old Germany defender.
The report claims Leverkusen’s talks with Bayern have ground to a halt and it is ‘not impossible’ that the transfer falls through completely, with Tah set to resume training with Xabi Alonso’s champions this weekend.
Tah has played over 350 games for Leverkusen’s first-team since joining from Hamburg in 2015 and played a key role last season as the club stormed to the Bundesliga title with a remarkable unbeaten record.
The sought-after German has just one year remaining on his current contract at BayArena, meaning Leverkusen must decide whether to cash in on the player this summer or risk losing him on a free transfer in 12 months’ time.
Asked for an update on his future last month, Tah underlined that he did not wish to put Leverkusen in a position where he could leave for no money.
‘It is clear that I will have to make a decision at some point,’ he told Sky Germany.
‘I will either extend my contract or I should leave because the club doesn’t want to end up in a situation where a player leaves the club for free.’
He added: ‘I’m thinking about the right next step for me, whether I stay in Leverkusen or go elsewhere.
‘I don’t think it’s good to mention names of other clubs, but of course the next step should be the right one and feel good.’
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