Manchester United to pay £128m for Real Madrid superstar: report

Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman and founder of Ineos Group Holdings Plc, following a Bloomberg Television interview at The Grenadier pub in London, UK, on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. "If you're in the automotive world, you've got a responsibility to try and improve the world's carbon footprint," Ratcliffe said.
(Image credit: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Manchester United are preparing an eye-watering offer for one Real Madrid star, as a statement of intent from new owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

That's according to incredible reports that say the Red Devils are set to smash their transfer record, which currently stands at around £90 million. Paul Pogba returned to Old Trafford in 2016 for that amount, with Manchester United coming close to paying that amount on a few occasions since.

Antony and Harry Maguire both cost over £85m – but this summer could mark the first £100m+ transfer, with Real Madrid offloading a star. 

Antony arrives at Old Trafford ahead of Manchester United vs Fulham in February 2024.

Manchester United are no strangers to big transfer fees (Image credit: Getty Images)

Defensa Central says that United are will pay as much as €150m for Rodrygo in their bid for the Brazilian, with his future at Old Trafford unclear given the imminent arrivals of countryman Endrick and World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe. 

United are far from the only side interested, if reports are to be believed, however. Cadena Ser in Spain claims Liverpool have made contact over a deal for the 23-year-old, with Sport adding Manchester City and Arsenal to the interested parties list. 

While the prospect seems exciting, however, in FourFourTwo's view, the idea of Manchester United spending over £120m on Rodrygo is fanciful, at best. The interest may well be genuine – if not at an early stage in the transfer process – but the apparent fee should be taken with a huge pinch of salt. 

Rodrygo heads the ball during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group G football match between Brazil and Serbia at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha on November 24, 2022.

Rodrygo has been linked with Manchester United (Image credit: NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)

United are under new ownership and while financial concerns aren't as prevalent this summer as last, they haven't been eradicated to the point where a nine-figure deal seems feasible. Furthermore, the optics of Sir Jim Ratcliffe committing huge funds to big names would be risky, given that this has been a tactic that's never worked under the Glazer ownership.

Rodrygo is valued at €100m by Transfermarkt

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Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.