Manchester United battling Arsenal for Charles De Ketelaere and other transfer rumours

The latest Man Utd transfer gossip includes reports of interest in the AC Milan midfielder.

Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing AC Milan midfielder Charles De Ketelaere next year.

The highly rated Belgian moved to AC from Club Brugge for £28m but the 22-year-old struggled to find his feet in Serie A. In a bid to get him up to speed, Milan have sent De Ketelaere on loan to Atalanta this summer and it is reported the Italian club can make the move permanent next summer.

In five matches so far for his temporary club, De Ketelaere is proving to be a handful with two goals and an assist to his name. This form has led to interest from a couple of Premier League clubs, according to Calciomercato.

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They claim United are one of the teams interested and they would be willing to fork out £72m for the midfielder. However, any deal is not thought to be straightforward as Arsenal have held a long-standing interest in the Belgian but have not made a formal approach up to now.

With De Ketelaere seemingly heading towards the exit door at San Siro, the Gunners may look to capitalise next summer. Elsewhere, The Athletic reports the Reds went to some extreme measures to get the Rasmus Hojlund deal over the line.

The Danish striker joined United in the summer for £72m having impressed at Atalanta. At one stage, it seemed the Reds may not have reached an agreement with the Italian club and were trying every trick to get the deal concluded.

One such negotiating tactic was to offer two United players to Hojlund's club in a part-exchange deal. It is claimed these were Donny van de Beek and Fred.

While Van de Beek remains at Old Trafford, Fred was eventually sold to Fenerbahce. Atalanta decided to hold firm knowing PSG were also interested and willing to offer him a higher salary meaning United had to reach the selling club's demands eventually.

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