Manchester United will have to shell out around £25million to land Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan, Football Express News understands.
A source close to Old Trafford told FEN the Argentina international is one of the widemen on their radar, and that the Portugese giants have made it clear he will not be allowed to leave on the cheap.
The Red Devils could battle it out with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid in an attempt to secure his services, with the Spanish side already seeing a £19.8m offer knocked back by Benfica.
If United do enter into a bidding war they will aim to tie up a deal swiftly as the 26-year-old is not involved in his national side’s World Cup campaign, having been left out of Alejandro Sabella’s squad for the tournament in Brazil.
United’s lack of creativity was pinpointed as a major issue in their awful 2013-14 campaign, which saw them finish seventh in the Premier League table and exit the domestic cup competitions prematurely.
They also exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, ending the season without a trophy, and sacked manager David Moyes in April, less than a year after handing him a six-year contract.
Holland head coach Louis van Gaal has since been named as the Scot’s permanent successor and he will take over after overseeing Holland’s third-place play-off against Brazil on Saturday.