Manchester United launch €40m bid for Lyon’s Moussa Dembélé

No not that one

Manchester United have launched a €40m (£35m) bid for Moussa Dembélé according to Goal. The Lyon striker first made a name for himself in the UK during his time at Fulham, before moving north of the border to score goals for fun at Celtic. He moved on to Lyon last summer for a fee of around £19m and has at least doubled his value after a prolific season in Ligue 1, scoring 21 goals in 48 matches despite not always being Bruno Genesio's first choice number 9. United's pursuit of Dembélé would suggest that rumours of Romelu Lukaku moving to Inter Milan, who are expected to hire Antonio Conte this summer, do indeed carry some weight. Lukaku has not convinced the powers that be at Old Trafford that he is the man to lead the line going forward, despite scoring 42 goals across his first two years at the club. The Belgian fell out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during the first few weeks of his tenure, but injuries have seen him return to the line up. His last United goal came in March, when United completed their miraculous comeback against PSG in the Champions League before it all went to shit. Dembélé's contract with Lyon has two years left to run, putting the club who just secured Champions League football in a position of relative strength to dig their heels in. United would have to offer the 22-year-old one hell of a pay rise to convince him to join the circus that is Manchester United. But this is the club who pay Alexis Sanchez half a million quid a week. Anything is possible.