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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
David McDonnell

Man Utd eye £45m Nicolas Pepe move - and weigh up Adrien Rabiot transfer

Manchester United are weighing up a £45million move for Lille striker Nicolas Pepe this summer.

Pepe has been in superb form for Lille this season, scoring 21 goals and providing 12 assists, his exploits making him a target for United, as well as PSG and Arsenal .

With doubts over Romelu Lukaku's United future, boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in the market for a new striker and 23-year-old Pepe ticks every box, his versatility at being able to play through the middle or on the right a major advantage.

The Ivory Coast international has been a revelation this season, his pace, power and clinical finishing marking him out as one of Europe's most exciting young forwards.

Lille owner Gerard Lopez has already confirmed interest in Pepe from a host of English clubs, with United having had the player scouted extensively this season.

(AFP/Getty Images)

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Although PSG are understood to have opened talks with Lille over Pepe, United are confident they would be able to land the player, even though they cannot offer Champions League football.

United, who finished sixth this season, 32 points behind champions Manchester City , will play in the Europa League next season, but believe they can still attract top-quality players this summer.

Another player on United's radar this summer is PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who has been frozen out by the French champions and not played since December.

Adrien Rabiot celebrates after scoring (AFP/Getty Images)

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Rabiot has been made an outcast by the PSG hierarchy for refusing to sign a new deal and will be able to leave this summer for free, with Juventus and Chelsea also assessing him.

The 23-year-old was set to join Barcelona , but that deal fell through due to his £175,000-a-week wage demands and signing-on fee of around £10m as a free agent.

Barca instead turned their attention to Ajax midfielder Frenkie De Jong, who they signed for £75m in January.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Getty Images)

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But United would be able to meet those figures, with Solskajer and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward now deciding whether to make a formal move for the France star.

United's top transfer target this summer remains Borussia Dortmund's £100m-rated England forward Jado Sancho, who left Manchester City last summer.

West Ham and England midfielder Declan Rice, and Crystal Palace's England Under-21 full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, are also on Solskajer's wanted list in what will be a major summer overhaul at Old Trafford.

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