21-year-old striker one step closer to sealing Manchester United move: Reports

Manchester United could seal their first deal of the January transfer window in the coming days. According to a report from Sebastian Srur from Radio Continental, The Red Devils are getting very close to signing River Plate forward Julian Alvarez as the club is willing to pay the Argentinian's release clause.

According to the report, the club did send their top scouts to monitor Alvarez and who were impressed. This led to news that United are willing to pay the release clause, which is around £17m, to bring the young forward to Old Trafford in the January transfer window.

The transfer is now close to being done as the player's representative is set to travel to Manchester. A meeting between the club and player representatives will be held in the coming days.

With Anthony Martial expected to move away from the club, this deal would add great depth to the Manchester United squad. Alvarez has been impressive in his recent performances for River Plate as the Argentinian has scored 28 goals for his club this year.

Michael Owen predicts result of Manchester United vs Burnley

After putting in an embarrassing performance against Newcastle United, Manchester United will now face Burnley at Old Trafford. After picking up just a point against the Magpies who are placed 19th in the points table, the United squad ended up getting a lot of slack from fans and experts.

However, former Manchester United star Michael Owen feels the squad will bounce back from their disappointing performance on Thursday. Owen wrote in his column for BetVictor via Metro:

"I expected more from United against Newcastle. Considering they had two weeks off, it was a disappointing showing. If they play like that, there's no way they will get in the top four. I'd expect that response here at Old Trafford."