Sources: Man United eager for double Premier League transfer raid but face City threat

Manchester United are eager to seal the transfers of Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo and Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson.

As first reported here for the Daily Briefing, Man Utd are eyeing this ambitious double transfer in a potential spending spree, but face competition from rivals Manchester City.

The Red Devils have been in contact over Semenyo but City are also in the mix, along with Liverpool and Tottenham.

Meanwhile, Anderson’s high asking price could be a big issue for United, but perhaps less so for Pep Guardiola and co.

As has been widely reported, I’ve been told that there have already been calls made by United chiefs to their Bournemouth counterparts in the last 48 hours as they step up their interest in Semenyo.

Still, the Ghana international is also wanted by the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham, with my sources currently unable to give me a strong indication of any particular club leading the race for his signature.

Semenyo has a £65m release clause for the early part of January, but that drops to £60m in the summer, so it’s also still possible that clubs will wait a bit longer before attempting to do a deal for the 25-year-old.

United could definitely do with adding Semenyo now, though, as they prepare to lose both Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo to AFCON, leaving Ruben Amorim short of attacking depth.

Meanwhile, Anderson could leave Nottingham Forest but possibly for as much as £100m but even that high fee could still go up depending on how the 23-year-old performs at the 2026 World Cup.

The England international is high up on United’s list of targets, but some people I’ve spoken to are seeing signs of Man City moving into pole position.

“City have done a lot of work on Anderson already,” one source explained. “There have been numerous scouting missions, with in-depth analysis showing that he ticks all the boxes for their current needs. They will likely do whatever they can to get that deal done ahead of the competition.”

Pep Guardiola is understood to be determined to bring in a marquee signing in midfield as a replacement for the injured Rodri, who has continued to struggle since missing so much of last season.

Forest’s high asking price could be an issue, but City might arguably be in a stronger position on that front than United, who need to sell before they can buy as INEOS are determined to be stricter with the club’s spending.

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