{"id":233049,"date":"2025-07-02T21:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T21:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/233049\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T21:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T21:56:13","slug":"ineos-face-haggling-once-again-as-manchester-united-lose-key-bargaining-chip-in-60m-striker-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/233049\/","title":{"rendered":"Ineos face haggling once again as Manchester United lose key bargaining chip in \u00a360m striker chase"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester United have focused on adding proven Premier League quality this summer and now fancy signing Ollie Watkins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manchester United<\/a> have taken chances on imports over the years, but with mixed results.<\/p>\n

Bruno Fernandes has become a United hero, but the likes of Antony and Rasmus Hojlund have been expensive misfires so far.<\/p>\n

United are now looking to land proven Premier League players in an effort to take Ruben Amorim\u2019s<\/a> side forward.<\/p>\n

Matheus Cunha joined United<\/a> from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Brentford\u2019s Bryan Mbeumo is wanted at Old Trafford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reports earlier this week suggested United want Ollie Watkins if Hojlund moves on<\/a>, with the Aston Villa forward emerging as a key target.<\/p>\n

\"OlliePhoto by James Gill \u2013 Danehouse\/Getty ImagesAston Villa stance on Manchester United target Ollie Watkins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Watkins is a proven Premier League goalscorer, as seen in the stats provided by Sofascore<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

The Aston Villa forward has seen his future come under scrutiny after losing his place to Marcus Rashford<\/a> at times last season.<\/p>\n

Villa missed out on a Champions League place and may need to sell players in order to balance the books.<\/p>\n

Watkins turns 30 in December, and Villa may feel that this is the right time to cash in if a significant offer arrives.<\/p>\n

The Mirror<\/a> now claim that Aston Villa are seeking around \u00a360million for Watkins, who still has three years left on his contract.<\/p>\n

United don\u2019t intend to pay that asking price, believing that it\u2019s too expensive for a player with limited resale value.<\/p>\n

United have lost a major bargaining chip here, as it\u2019s noted that a swap involving Rashford had been floated.<\/p>\n

Rashford spent the second half of last season on loan at Villa Park and could have been used in an exchange for Watkins.<\/p>\n

However, Rashford has now departed Villa Park and seemingly has no plans to return to the club this summer.<\/p>\n

That means United will have to cough up the cash for Watkins, which will be difficult without selling players first.<\/p>\n

\"InfographicInfographic made by SofaScore showing Ollie Watkins\u2019 stats between 2023-24 and present.Ineos may be set for another haggle over Ollie Watkins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Missing out on the potential of a Rashford exchange will sting for United, and Villa\u2019s demands leave Ineos with another haggle on their hands.<\/p>\n

United knew the price required for Cunha, with a \u00a362.5million release clause in his contract.<\/p>\n

United haggled over the payment of Cunha\u2019s clause<\/a>, though, first offering to pay the fee over the course of five years.<\/p>\n

Wolves refused those terms, meaning Ineos had to agree to three instalments over a two-year period.<\/p>\n

More haggling has taken place over Bryan Mbeumo, with United chasing the Brentford forward in another big-money attacking move.<\/p>\n

United\u2019s second bid for Mbeumo<\/a> has been rejected, with offers of \u00a355million and \u00a362.5million snubbed so far.<\/p>\n

Ineos are looking to strike big deals within United\u2019s budget, but that means a lot of haggling this summer \u2013 and we could see more over Watkins.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United have focused on adding proven Premier League quality this summer and now fancy signing Ollie Watkins.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,5467,2465,19503,99,28279,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-233049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-ineos","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-ollie-watkins","14":"tag-ruben-amorim","15":"tag-sir-jim-ratcliffe","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114785877051209187","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}