Bruno Fernandes agrees Barcelona move, Solskjaer expects Alexis Sanchez back at the club and more: Manchester United Transfer News Roundup, 28th January 2020

By Shashi Choudhary

Modified Jan 28, 2020 14:08 GMT

Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's daily Manchester United transfer news roundup which hints at a possible conclusion of the long-running transfer saga featuring the Sporting Lisbon star Bruno Fernandes.

On that note, we look at the best Manchester United transfer news and rumours making the headlines today.

Barcelona hijack Bruno Fernandes transfer

Manchester United appear to have lost the battle to sign Bruno Fernandes as the Portuguese midfielder is nearing a move to Barcelona, reports the Spanish outlet Superdeporte.

According to reports, Barcelona will sign the Sporting Lisbon star and will immediately loan him to Valencia until the end of this season. The Catalan side are close to signing Valencia striker Rodrigo and offering Bruno Fernandes could sweeten the deal for them.

It is also believed that Nelson Semedo could also join the Los Ches which will make it easier for Barcelona to sign Rodrigo this month as an emergency replacement for the injured Luis Suarez.

Islam Slimani is available for £4million

Manchester United have opened talks with the agent of AS Monaco's striker Islam Slimani and could sign him on loan until the end of this season, reports Daily Mirror.

Tottenham Hotspur are also keeping a tab on the former Leicester City striker who has demanded a transfer move this month. According to reports, it will take a figure of £4million for the interested teams to sign the in-form Algerian striker.

Slimani, 31 has managed 7 goals and 7 assists in 13 appearances for AS Monaco this season. However, since the appointment of new manager Robert Moreno, the striker has played just 30 minutes of football and is desperate to join a new club.

Leeds beat Manchester United for the RB Leipzig striker

According to The Ornstein & Chapman Podcast on The Athletic, Manchester United made a last-minute attempt to sign RB Leipzig’s Jean-Kevin Augustin, but were beaten to the chase by Leeds United. The 22-year-old striker is expected to join the Championship side on loan until the end of this season.

Manchester United are in a dire need of attacking re-enforcement given the long-term injury to Marcus Rashford. After missing out on Edinson Cavani, Raul Jimenez, and Krzysztof Piątek, the Red Devils tried to hijack Leeds United's move for Augustin which also ended up in a failure.

The former PSG youth star is expected to complete his medical for Leeds United in coming days and help their bid to win the Championship title this season. The Whites are currently second in the league table with 52 points, just 1 point behind leaders West Brom.

Solskjaer hints at no signings this month

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not confident of any new transfer for his team this month as he reckons it is hard to sign quality players in January.

The Norweigian was speaking ahead of Manchester United's Carabao Cup semi-final Second Leg clash against Manchester City where he also hinted a possible return for Alexis Sanchez to Old Trafford next summer. Solskjaer said,

"It is difficult this window - it's always been. I can't remember how many good deals that we've brought in in January.

"Henrik (Larsson)... Nemanja (Vidic) and Patrice (Evra) - they were two good ones. It's hard, it's very hard because the clubs don't want to lose their best players.