Manchester United are in the transfer market for a second centre-back this summer.
The Red Devils have already secured the services of Leny Yoro from Lille for £59 million, but manager Erik ten Hag has urged the club to sign another central defender.
Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt has been heavily linked with United in recent weeks, but their offer of £29.5m has fallen short of the asking price of £42m plus add-ons.
It is now reported by O Jogo (page 8) that United are exploring a deal for Benfica’s Antonio Silva.
Silva is one of the best young centre-backs in European football. The 20-year-old is currently protected by a huge release clause worth £84m in his contract at Benfica.
However, United are ‘convinced’ that they can negotiate an ‘affordable’ fee to sign the Portuguese talent. They have not ruled out making an approach for his services.
Paris Saint-Germain are currently on the verge of landing Benfica midfielder Joao Neves.
The Portuguese wonderkid has a release clause worth £101m in his contract, but the Ligue 1 champions look set to sign him for £59m with Renato Sanches possibly returning to Benfica.
The proposed deal should offer plenty of encouragement to the Red Devils. United should be optimistic of signing Silva for around £50m with a fringe player acting as a makeweight.
Silva would be another statement signing after Yoro. The centre-back did not have a good European Championship with Portugal, but he was superb for Benfica last season.
The youngster had a passing accuracy of 93 percent, completing 61 percent of his long balls.
The Benfica graduate also won 67 percent of his ground and aerial duels with six recoveries, three clearances and 2.1 tackles per league appearance.
Just like Yoro, he has immense potential and has shown plenty of maturity at a young age. He would be a fantastic signing with long-term success in mind.
Stats from Sofascore.com
