Manchester United have made a bid for Roma’s Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos according to his agent.
The 19-year-old has been touted as a possible alternative for Barcelona should they miss out on signing fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva but it looks like United have joined in the hunt to sign him.
Speaking to Spain’s Mundo Deportivo, his agent Roberto Calenda confirmed that Roma had received offers from PSG and United for Marquinhos.
“The player is back from vacation and joined to work with the idea to help his team in the best way possible.
“However, the club has informed us of the possibility of selling to Marquinhos and we have to respect the decisions they make.
“There are offers from PSG, Manchester (United) and Barcelona and Rome could accept one of them.”
The 19-year-old spent over a decade with Brazilian outfit Corinthians before joining Roma last year but he made quite an impact with the Serie A side in his 22 appearances.
Mainly operating as a centre back, Marquinhos made an average of 2 tackles and 2.7 interceptions per game and at 19, he is already playing with Brazil’s U23 squad.
Unsurprisingly, that sort of Brazilian talent comes at a price and with a €25-30m fee being touted, United could be priced out of a move but we have already tabled our bid so the interest is genuine.
With a move for Ezequiel Garay also being heavily discussed, United look to be in the market for a new centre back and given Ferdinand (34) and Vidic’s (31) ages, Moyes may well want to bring in some more youth despite his options in defence already with Jones, Evans and Smalling.
