Manchester United reportedly considering late move for Barcelona’s USMNT defender Sergino Dest

Manchester United are reportedly considering a late move for Barcelona’s American full-back Sergino Dest.

21-year-old Dest moved to the La Liga club in 2020, from Ajax, for an initial €21m fee and has subsequently made over 70 appearances.

Despite being a regular in manager Xavi Hernandez’s team last season, Dest has been consistently linked with a move away from Barcelona this summer. He has yet to make an appearance this season, with Ronald Araujo preferred despite being a nominal central defender.

Dest was heavily-linked with Chelsea earlier in the transfer window, particularly as Barca chased Chelsea duo Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta, but no deal materialised. Villarreal were also reported to be exploring a move, but Dest was not interested.

United themselves were linked with a move two weeks ago, by Talksport but those rumours quickly went quiet.

Now, Sky Sports News and Barcelona reporter Gerardo Romero are both reporting that United are looking at the young defender.

The fee being reported is £17m for the deal to be completed.

Barcelona based outlet Sport are also reporting United’s interest but include the detail that Aaron Wan-Bissaka could be included in a swap deal, with Barca looking for a more defensively-minded right-back.

Wan-Bissaka’s future is also included in the Sky Sports reporting. Sky suggest that the former Crystal Palace defender would be sold in the event that Dest arrives at Old Trafford. His former club as well as West Ham are apparently interested in picking him up.

With just two days remaining in the transfer window, any deals would need to be swiftly concluded.

Should the former Ajax defender be signed, he would be the third of Ten Hag’s former players to join United this summer, after Lisandro Martinez and Antony.

Barcelona have had a transformational summer, signing winger Raphinha, defender Jules Kounde, Robert Lewandowski and free agents Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen.

However, their outlay – reportedly over €150m – caused issues with La Liga. The Spanish league authorities initially refused to register the signings due to the club’s apparent financial issues. The late sale of Dest could be a palliative to these concerns.

The report son Dest have been contradicted by both the Athletic and BBC this evening, both outlets reporting that United’s summer business will be finished once Martin Dubravka’s transfer from Newcastle is completed.