Manchester United are gearing up to rival Manchester City for Juventus centre-back Leonardo Bonucci and they seem to be firm favourites now.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was also looking to reunite with his favourite player at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea were priced out of the race.
Jose Mourinho desperately needs to add another centre-back to his squad this summer and is believed to have marked Bonucci as an experienced inclusion to further reinforce United’s defense-line.
City are also very keen and are ready to spend as much as £50million to rope in the Italian.
With United also keen to sign Paul Pogba, some reports suggest United signing Bonucci would appear to be slim day by day.
Juve have already seen Alvaro Morata return to Real Madrid and have bolstered their squad with the signings of Miralem Pjanic, Dani Alves and Medhi Benatia.
United, meanwhile, have already signed central defender Eric Bailly from Villarreal this summer but Mourinho insists he was uncertain whether the Ivory Coast international would immediately adapt to the Premier League, while Marcos Rojo could be leaving too.
Talks between United and Pogba are ongoing and Manchester Evening News claim both the clubs are on the same page, with Juve putting on a public show of defiance in an attempt to convince supporters they are doing their utmost to keep Pogba.
Bonucci, 29, was one of the standout defenders at Euro 2016 and has been indispensable for Juventus during their four successive Serie A title wins.
The Italy international, along with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli, has created a formidable defensive quartet at both club and international level.
United attempted to sign a senior defender last year in Sergio Ramos, however, the Spaniard used United’s interest as a bargaining chip to earn an improved Real Madrid contract.
The club has shown interest in Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte, Everton’s John Stones and Ramos’s teammate Raphael Varane, but he made it clear he is not leaving Real Madrid.