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23rd Jun 2017

Fabinho asked which shirt number he’ll wear at Man United amid rumours of Old Trafford move

Keep an eye on this one

Simon Lloyd

With only Victor Lindelöf through the door so far, transfer-hungry Manchester United fans are growing impatient.

Already this summer, they’ve seen Antoine Griezmann’s move to Old Trafford fall on its arse, and had to tolerate all the inevitable stories that emerge when Cristiano Ronaldo starts pretending to want to leave Real Madrid.

While neither of those players appear to be on their way to Manchester this summer, there’s still hope for AS Monaco’s Fabinho.

Like half of his teammates, the Brazilian is being linked with a move away from the principality in the next few weeks. The 23-year-old, who can play at right back or in defensive midfield, has reportedly been ‘close’ to joining United at least three times already since the season ended – despite there being very little evidence to support such stories.

Now though, some might interpret Fabinho’s words in a recent interview as being a good old fashioned ‘come and get me’ plea.

Speaking to Esporte Interativo in his native Brazil about a move to United, he didn’t exactly hide the fact he’d quite fancy such a move.

“It’s a tempting invitation,” he said. “I would first talk to my agent, Monaco too, to decide everything right. But it’s a great club, sure enough I would think well about it.”

Fabinho has since appeared on ESPN in his country, where he was again asked about rumours of a move to United. More specifically, they asked him what his shirt number would be at the club. Clearly under the impression that a move to United was almost inevitable.

Fabinho himself remained professional enough.

“At this moment, Fabinho is with the Monaco shirt,” he replied.

‘At this moment’.

Hmm. Keep an eye on this one.