Man United forget Laporte, move to Marquinhos

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has turned his attention to Paris Saint Germain defender Marquinhos.

Reports of a deal for Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte had surfaced last weekend, but the Dutch boss has now had a change of mind, refusing to pay the asking price set on the young Frenchman.

Instead, United have now made contact with Paris Saint Germain over the availability of Brazilian central defender Marquinhos.

The former Roma defender has found playing time hard to come by after losing his place to former Chelsea man David Luiz, who has since formed a formidable partnership with international team-mate Thiago Silva.

Both Luiz and Silva were included in the FIFPro XI of 2014 on Monday night and it is now unlikely that either will lose their place under PSG boss Laurent Blanc.

Marquinhos joined the French side for £30m from Roma, but United are confident of decreasing his valuation.