With Louis Van Gaal looking to overhaul a team that severely underachieved last season, the bookies have slashed the odds on him landing the in-demand Juventus midfielder
After leading the Netherlands to a respectable third place at the World Cup, Louis Van Gaal will now turn his attention to rebuilding new club Manchester United’s fortunes after their disastrous last campaign.
Having already splashed out over €75.5 million [£60m] to bring Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera to Old Trafford, the Dutchman now seems intent on winning the race for in-demand Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal.
With club representatives allegedly already in talks with the Chilean’s agent, United are now overwhelming 1/5 (1.20) favourites to secure his signature for a hefty fee this summer.
However, should they for some reason fail to complete the transfer then there would be no shortage of suitors for a man who scored 11 goals from midfield in his side’s third consecutive Scudetto-winning season.
A collection of European heavyweights including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are all next in line at 14/1 (15.00) to sign the 27-year-old, who is rated as one of the world’s finest in his position.
Meanwhile, after bringing Alexis Sanchez to the Emirates Stadium to much fanfare already, Arsenal are also on offer at 14/1 (15.00) to steal his compatriot from under their rivals’ noses, although deals for Sami Khedira or Lars Bender seem more likely at this stage.
Fellow Premier League clubs Manchester City and Chelsea are available at 16/1 (17.00) to foil United, although the former have recently captured Porto midfielder Fernando while the latter have been more strongly linked with Vidal’s team-mate Paul Pogba.
Mega-rich Monaco may be after some new star names for their upcoming Champions League campaign, particularly with James Rodriguez most likely on his way to Real Madrid after a stellar World Cup performance, and the principality club are priced at 20/1 (21.00) to make the Juventus man their new headline act.
Similarly, Liverpool are looking to strengthen for their return to Europe’s elite competition after losing their star player to Barcelona, although odds of 20/1 (21.00) seem short on them convincing Vidal to make himself extremely unpopular with the Old Trafford faithful by moving to Anfield.
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Al Hain-Cole is a Liverpool fan, experienced tipster and avid follower of European football. He specialises in accumulators and if you would like to read more from Al you can follow him on Twitter here.bg