Real Madrid and Manchester United keen on signing 33-year-old Saudi Pro League star in January transfer window: Reports

Real Madrid and Manchester United are willing to battle it out for the signature of Saudi Pro League star N'Golo Kante in the 2025 January transfer window, according to Fichajes. The 33-year-old has played in the Premier League for Chelsea in the past and currently plies his trade for Al-Ittihad.

Despite moving away from European club football in 2023, Kante was impressive for France in the Euros held earlier this year. Manager Didier Deschamps put his faith in the midfielder and gave him full freedom to explore all avenues in the centre of the park in six matches.

Kante has made 54 appearances for Al-Ittihad so far, and even scored five goals and provided seven assists. Despite his advancing years, it is rumored that both Manchester United and Real Madrid are keen on bringing him back to Europe. Real Madrid have quite a few good players in his position but still want to sign him.

The likes of Aurelien Tchouameni, Lukas Modric, Eduardo Camavinga, and Dani Ceballos are the players Kante will have to compete with if he agrees to a move to Madrid. United, on the other hand, only have Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro in their ranks who can ply their trade in central defensive midfield.

Kante's inclusion will give United a big boost, especially as he showed how vital his performances were in the Euros. He played in the latter after a long injury lay-off, and still managed to impress all and sundry. However, Al-Ittihad have set an initial price of 20m Euros for his transfer, which is a rather significant sum.

Real Madrid end winless streak with Osasuna win

Real Madrid ended their two-game winless streak with a 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday, November 9. They are currently perched upon the second position of La Liga with 27 points inside their kitty, having played one game less than leaders Barcelona. They have won eight out of the 12 league games that they have played all season.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are ranked in the 13th position of the Premier League table at the time of writing, with 15 points to their name. Their most recent 3-0 win over Leicester City at home on Sunday, November 10, will give them a massive boost going forward as new head coach Ruben Amorim takes over.