Dharmesh Sheth has told Sky Sports News (28/07/21 at 2:20 pm) that Manchester United want to ‘extend the contract’ of Axel Tuanzebe, who is wanted by Newcastle and Aston Villa.
But all of this is still good news for Newcastle and Villa fans because those at Old Trafford simply want to take this step in order to maintain Tuanzebe’s ‘value’ in the market.
The 23-year-old is familiar to Steve Bruce after the Englishman brought him to then-Championship side Aston Villa over two loan spells.
And it seems as though Newcastle are leading the race for his signature, with Villa also keen on his talents.
But before a potential loan move can take place, this is what a Sky reporter shared about Tuanzebe’s current situation.
“They would like to extend the contract of Axel Tuanzebe,” said Sheth. “He has one year left, with an option of a further year.
“With the potential of allowing him to go out on loan for the forthcoming season, so when he does come back then he doesn’t simply have one year left on his contract.
“His value will be maintained. If he was to perform well on a potential loan then United would either say ‘he’s forming part of our plans for the future or his value would be at a good level where they could dictate his transfer fee’.”
Well, for starters, if Tuanzebe does end up at St James’ Park then Bruce will hopefully use him as a centre-back and not a right-back.
During his days at Villa, Bruce played the promotion winner as a right-sided full-back, which confused supporters, and in the end, played a part in getting him sacked.
It was Dean Smith who got the best out of the Manchester United academy product in B6, including starting him in the Championship play-off win against Derby, but his career hasn’t progressed since.
Tuanzebe simply needs to move to earn game time, especially with Raphael Varane walking through the doors, and he needs to use Jesse Lingard as a reference.
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