Fulham next £40m transfer could be for Man Utd midfield bagsman

Fulham have 'upped the ante' in their transfer pursuit of Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay this summer as Joao Palhinha continues to push for a Bayern Munich switch.

The Cottagers could be left needing to recruit a defensive midfielder as a priority this summer should Palhinha quit the club for the German giants. Bayern Munich almost sealed a deal with Fulham for the 28-year-old last summer but that collapsed with the London club unable to find a replacement in time.

Palhinha got his head down and enjoyed an impressive season in west London but is now subject of multiple renewed bids from Bayern Munich. The player himself has hinted at his desire to finally make the move, "As far as my future is concerned, both clubs know where I want to be in a month," he hinted while on Euro 2024 duty.

Marco Silva's side appear to be actively in the market for Palhinha's replacement with GIVEMESPORT reporting that the club have started exploring a potential deal for McTominay with Manchester United. The Scotland international almost completed a £40 million move to the capital last year with West Ham seriously interested.

Speaking about that failed deal, David Moyes recently told BBC Sport: "Lots of managers have hard luck stories about players that get away and McTominay is one of those for me because I tried to sign him for West Ham last summer.

"It was always going to be hard to replace Declan Rice with any one player when he joined Arsenal, and we were not planning to do that - we wanted to bring in a couple of midfielders instead. He is a good all-round midfielder, but to me his best attributes are arriving in the area, or the edges of it, at the right time to score or make some chances.

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"McTominay was a player who I felt I needed at the time, but we didn’t quite get it over the line and he went on to score a lot of big goals for Manchester United last season instead."

It is reported that the Red Devils would be open to letting the midfielder leave for the right fee this summer, in a boost for Fulham. Manchester United are in the process of an overhaul but won't be forced into selling their academy graduate, who bagged 10 goals from midfield last term, for cheap.

Bayern Munich are believed to have launched a final £39 million bid for Palhinha, which could fund the McTominay move. However, Fulham are said to be holding out for a lofty £50 million as the player impresses at Euro 2024.