French youngster Manu Kone has been linked with a move to Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain – but a move to Ligue 1 now looks unlikely.
Manchester United need to sign a midfielder or two in the summer, but we know that will depend on the club’s finances and whether a takeover happens in the coming months.
In turn, Manchester United are being linked with a number of players in the midfield position as well as an array of top centre-forwards.
One player being linked with Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder, Manu Kone, who is set to be a talent in demand this summer.
PSG, Chelsea and United are all believed to be eyeing a move for the 21-year-old.
French football expert Jonathan Johnson has told CaughtOffside that Kone will be on the move in the coming months, although PSG are starting to look weak in the race for his signature.
“Manu Kone is a fine young player who’s making the headlines a bit more recently, with links to the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. In terms of rumoured interest from PSG, however, it’s hard to see them having a major overhaul of their squad this summer and being able to pay the kind of money that would be needed for a signing like Kone. He’s obviously a very talented young French footballer and it makes sense that he’d be of interest to PSG, especially as he’s on the verge of breaking through internationally as well.
“Still, as long as the contract situations of Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi remain unresolved ahead of the summer, it’s hard to see PSG winning the race for Kone, and it’s difficult to see them doing much else with their squad. He’ll likely have other big clubs watching him from across Europe, and it’s not a big surprise to see him succeed on what is becoming quite a well-trodden path, having moved to Germany from Toulouse. He now definitely seems like a player who could be on the move this summer, with a number of big clubs likely to show an interest. I think PSG would be the only ones who could bring him back to Ligue 1, but there are plenty of other big teams looking for midfielders.
“Manchester United seem to be one of those, having been linked with both Kone and Enzo Le Fee, who plays for Lorient and is another impressive talent who I expect to be of interest to a number of big clubs right now. There’ll be the temptation to draw comparisons with someone like Aurelien Tchouameni, who made the big move from Monaco to Real Madrid last year, but to be honest I don’t see Kone being ready to make quite that same jump right now. That’s no disrespect to Kone or the level at Borussia Monchengladbach, but he’s not quite where Tchouameni was with Monaco when he then made the move to Madrid.
Still, that’s not to say there won’t be big clubs interested in him. We know Chelsea are targeting the talents of tomorrow, so to speak, so he could appeal to them. Gladbach also seem to be coming to end of a cycle, and are facing losing Marcus Thuram for nothing, so they’ll need to bring in some money from somewhere else, so Kone seems a logical choice given the clubs looking at him at this moment in time. Still, my personal opinion is that he’s not quite ready to join the European elite like Tchouameni was, but that could also mean Chelsea is a logical next step for him because if you look at how their season is going, Champions League qualification looks unlikely, so it could be the right sort of project for him to start with.”
Kone, who has a contract at Gladbach until 2025, recently spoke with Le Parisien about the interest he is receiving from top clubs throughout Europe.
“At the moment, I am in Mönchengladbach,” Koné told the French media outlet. “I live well with rumors, I don’t pay attention to everything that is said. It’s more my entourage and my friends who send me the articles.
“It’s a source of pride for them to see my name associated with big clubs, but it doesn’t make me hot or cold. I prefer to finish my season quietly. Afterward, what must happen will happen.”
Kone won’t come cheap. Transfer expect Fabrizio Romano recently stated that the Gladbach star could cost more than €50 million.
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