Manchester United transfer news: Lazio midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru targeted
Manchester United transfer news: Sky Sports has dropped a bit of a Sunday morning bombshell. Old Trafford decision-makers have added Lazio’s Fisayo Dele-Bashiru to their current recruitment shortlist. Naturally, the news has set the rumour mill spinning frantically.
The dynamic 25-year-old Nigerian international only arrived in Rome midway through last term. He apparently feels quite settled playing his football in Serie A under the Italian sunshine. Even so, sources close to the player suggest he remains very open to a lucrative return to English shores. He knows the terrain well, having previously developed within the Manchester City academy system before moving on.
Separation of fact from fiction
Industry insiders were quick to pour a bit of cold water on the romance of the link. His representatives might simply be leaking these stories to the press. It is a classic agent ploy. Drum up a bit of Premier League interest, secure some leverage, and use it while hammering out an improved contract extension with the Biancocelesti hierarchy.
Lazio president Claudio Lotito is famously a tough nut to crack in negotiations. He expects to command a transfer fee between €15M and €18M before he even considers sanctioning a departure. For context, Dele-Bashiru is a squad player who only started occasionally last term under Marco Rosi, though he racked up 57 appearances and scored 7 goals in total since moving to Italy. Nobody knows for certain if he is a genuine priority target for United.
Freshly appointed permanent manager Michael Carrick desperately needs to rebuild his engine room. Casemiro has said his goodbyes. That leaves a massive hole next to Kobbie Mainoo.
Dele-Bashiru certainly possesses raw explosive power. He has that driving running style that can break opposition lines during quick transitions. Brilliant on his day. The problem is his frustrating lack of tactical discipline throughout his time in Rome. Serie A tacticians repeatedly dropped him due to poor positioning. That is an alarming trait. It could easily expose a midfield in the unforgiving, high-tempo environment of English football.
Paying up to eighteen million Euros for an unproven squad player looks like an unnecessary gamble. Smarter, more polished options exist across Europe. United require an intelligent, elite controller who can instantly ease the defensive burden on Mainoo. Dele-Bashiru plays more like a chaotic maverick. He relies heavily on athletic recovery rather than genuine positional awareness.
Carrick relies on strict structural discipline. That alone makes a move for the former Sheffield Wednesday man look highly improbable at this sort of price point. INEOS will look elsewhere for value.
