Manchester United suffer blow in defender pursuit

Manchester United could miss out on signing Alex Telles from Porto amid their reluctance to meet the asking price.

The Red Devils have been tipped to sign the Brazilian in recent weeks, but have failed to finalise a suitable fee.

Telles' current deal with Porto expires at the end of the season and United are only willing to offer £9m to secure his signature.

According to O Jogo, that is well short of the £18m price tag set by Porto and a deal appears unlikely, as things stand.

Porto want to recoup funds from the sale of Telles, but they are not desperate to sell him for a bargain price.

Hence, they could decide to keep hold of the left-back despite the fact that he could sign a pre-contract with an overseas club in January.

Telles enjoyed a superb 2019/2020 season with Porto where he contributed 13 goals and 12 assists from the left side of the defence.

United have lacked the presence of an attacking full-back in the squad and Telles would provide strong competition to Luke Shaw.