Manchester United lodge £13.6m bid for Kagawa
The Premier League giants have been pressed into making a formal
offer for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder after being made aware of
growing interest in him from Arsenal
The Premier League giants have been pressed
into action after being made aware last week of growing interest in the
attacking midfielder from Arsenal.
Reports emerged in Germany on
Thursday that United had made a move for Kagawa and sources have
confirmed to Goal.com that the club have made a formal bid for the Japan
international.
United are believed to be hopeful of wrapping
up a quick deal but it is understood that Arsenal's interest remains
strong and the Londoners could also submit an offer for a key figure in
Dortmund's back-to-back league titles.
Kagawa has only a year
remaining on his contract and the Bundesliga club have hinted recently
that they will not stand in the way of a transfer this summer.
Speaking
last week, Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said: "I had a
meeting with his agent and Shinji Kagawa has informed us that he will
definitely not be extending his contract. Should we now receive offers
for Kagawa, then we will consider and negotiate them."
Goal.com exclusively revealed in April that United were lining up a bid to sign Kagawa, whose reputation has grown over the last few months.
Manager
Sir Alex Ferguson and his assistant Mike Phelan were then present at
the DFB-Pokal final two weekends ago when Kagawa scored in Dortmund's
emphatic 5-2 win over Bayern Munich.
Arsene Wenger is also an
admirer of the Japanese midfielder, who arrived in Germany after the
2010 World Cup for a fee well below £1m and has been an influential
presence in Jurgen Klopp's team.
He has scored 10 times in 30
international appearances, and his 71 appearances for Dortmund have
yielded 29 goals, including the opener in the cup final, before setting
up hat-trick hero Robert Lewandowski's first of the game.
Ferguson
is aiming to free up space in the United squad by off-loading some of
the dead wood. Michael Owen has been released and the club are also set
to sell Dimitar Berbatov and Park Ji-Sung.
Source : Goal.com
