Marc Cucurella, Marcos Alonso and Sergio Reguilon are on Manchester United’s target list as the club scramble for an emergency left-back signing before Friday’s transfer deadline.
United are in the market for a left sided defender with Luke Shaw likely to be out until November with a muscle injury and his understudy Tyrell Malacia also way off a return with a knee problem.
Informal inquiries have been made to ascertain Chelsea’s willingness to loan Cucurella, who has struggled to make an impact since his £60 million move to Stamford Bridge from Brighton last summer.
The Spain international, 25, has yet to feature for Chelsea this season with Ben Chilwell the first choice left-back and new manager Mauricio Pochettino preferring youngster Ian Maatsen as back-up.
Chelsea would be addressing a glaring problem for a leading rival for Champions League football if they allowed Cucurella to leave and it remains to be seen if they would be willing to sanction a deal.
United are also thought to have asked about Alonso, the former Chelsea defender who joined Barcelona last summer, and have an interest in Reguilon. The 26-year-old is a target for Fulham, whose interest is more advanced, with Tottenham open to offloading the Spain left-back, who spent last season on loan at Atletico Madrid.
United were interested in Reguilon in 2020 before he moved to Tottenham and ended up signing Alex Telles from Porto instead. Telles left Old Trafford for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia last month.
Erik ten Hag’s issues in the position were clear to see on Saturday when Diogo Dalot struggled badly as a makeshift left-back against Nottingham Forest. United were 2-0 down after just four minutes and forced to come from behind to claim a precious 3-2 win.
United are set to complete a £4.3million deal for Turkey goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from Fenerbahce as cover for Andre Onana with Dean Henderson joining Crystal Palace for around £20m including add ons. England goalkeeper Henderson was undergoing a medical on Sunday ahead of a switch to Selhurst Park. Palace are due to pay an initial £15m for Henderson with a further £5million in add-ons and United will have a sell-on clause in the deal.
Ten Hag had been keen to add another midfielder to his squad before the deadline, with Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat of serious interest.
But United have needed to sell to raise funds given the limits in place as a result of Uefa’s Financial Sustainability rules and there are no guarantees Ten Hag will be able to reinforce his midfield.
Mason Mount’s absence for six weeks with a hamstring injury has left United light in midfield and many of Scott McTominay’s suitors have already acquired alternative targets.
Jonny Evans, the veteran Northern Ireland centre-half, is due to sign a one-year contract with United this week and it remains to be seen if there are any late moves for Harry Maguire.