Manchester United are reportedly ready to trigger Diego Godin's £30 million release clause in a bid to land the Atletico Madrid defender in January. Elsewhere, Memphis Depay is said to be searching for an Old Trafford exit route.
The Sun's Alan Nixon reported the Red Devils will meet the defender's release clause and offer a considerable raise on the £70,000-a-week wages he's understood to be earning in Spain's capital.
The Uruguay international moved to the Vicente Calderon in 2010 and has since gone on to make 271 appearances for Los Rojiblancos, per Transfermarkt. His contract at the club runs until the summer of 2019.
As detailed by Squawka, United would be landing one of the world's best centre-backs if they were to sign Godin, illustrated by the fact he was recently voted La Liga's best defender for the 2015-16 campaign:
United manager Jose Mourinho will make widespread changes to his squad in 2017, according to Nixon, and it may be that defence is a focus of the eight players he's reportedly prepared to axe before next season gets under way.
The club's defensive frailties were exposed during Thursday's 2-1 defeat to Fenerbahce in the UEFA Europa League, and United legend Gary Neville wasn't pleased after his old side's 4-0 defeat to Chelsea last month:
Summer signing Eric Bailly came off injured after 30 minutes in that fixture, and despite fears the Ivory Coast international faced a lengthy lay-off, The Independent's Mark Ogden reported he could be back in action next month.
Godin will turn 31 in February, but bookmakers Ladbrokes illustrated the need for more options at centre-back after the club recently saw their options severely restricted by injuries:
Meanwhile, Paul Hirst of the Times reported Depay is ready to call time on his United career just 18 months after arriving at the Theatre of Dreams from PSV Eindhoven for a substantial £25 million fee.
Depay brought a lot of promise to the Premier League after dazzling in the Eredivisie, but Fenerbahce manager and Dutch compatriot Dick Advocaat has said his countryman needs to move, per Sky Sports' James Dale:
The potential is there for him to be a good player. You cannot lose that, he has the quality to be a top player, but the problem for him is that there are so many quality players in that squad.
So for himself it is important to start playing regularly at the age that he is at - otherwise the way, I think, is that maybe he has to find another solution [club] because he is too good to sit on the bench. I still believe in him, he has the right mentality, the right character to play for United, but there are so many options there. Regular playing time will help his progression.
The Netherlands international has started in just one of his seven appearances under Mourinho, with the likes of Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young preferred to Depay out wide.
Depay was brought to the club by Mourinho's managerial predecessor, Louis van Gaal, but it appears the Portuguese has even less use of his talents, and the decision has been made to move to pastures new.