Man United has offered Facundo Pellistri in a trade for Morten Hjulmand, a defender for Sporting Lisbon. The Portuguese club turned down the offer, though, because they are waiting for Manchester United to pay the £69 million release option.

Throughout the season, Manchester United have been to watch Hjulmand play at least six times. Scouts from Old Trafford have seen him play in both the Europa League and the Primeira Liga. And Christian Eriksen, who is close friends with Hjulmand and is part of Erik ten Hag’s group, is also a draw. Eriksen is thought to be the 24-year-old’s coach when they play for Denmark together. He is Rasmus Hojlund, who is also Danish and plays for Manchester United.

Sporting, on the other hand, is not interested in the offer of Uruguayan Pellistri, who has played nine times in the league this season. It cost about £15 million to bring Hjulmand to Sporting from Lecce. Since he joined the club, he has played in all but one of Portugal’s 24 games.

In all games, he has scored one goal and set up two others. Hjulmand has been linked with a move to the Premier League before. The defender was talked about as a possible target for Southampton while he was at Lecce. But Manchester United will be a better offer for the Sporting player as Ten Hag looks to add to his middle choices. Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat have had a hard time since they got there in the summer.

In the same way, Casemiro had a rough start to the season before getting hurt. United are stuck in eighth place in the Premier League table, nine points behind the top four teams. And they have tough games coming up against Tottenham, Wolves, West Ham, and Aston Villa.