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Manchester United have been told that they would need to pay a three-figure transfer fee to have any chance of signing Goncalo Ramos in January, according to reports.
The Portugal international began each of his side’s World Cup group games on the bench, before Fernando Santos included him in the starting XI for the last-16 clash with Switzerland.
Ramos responded with a stunning hat-trick as Portugal ran out 6-1 winners over the Swiss, although he could not prevent a 1-0 defeat by Morocco in Saturday’s quarter-final.
But the 21-year-old’s exploits in the previous round did not escape the attention of scouts across Europe, many of whom already had the striker on their radar.
Ramos is also enjoying an excellent season for Benfica (opens in new tab), for whom he has scored 14 goals in 21 appearances in all competitions in 2022/23.
The Portuguese giants are keen to keep hold of their academy graduate, who is valued at £20.6m by Transfermarkt (opens in new tab), for a while longer yet.
According to Jornal de Noticias (opens in new tab), Benfica have told United and other interested parties that they would have to trigger Ramos’ release clause of £103m to prise him away from the Estadio da Luz.
That could put him out of the reach of United, who might not be willing to spend such a large sum on a player who remains relatively inexperienced.
The Red Devils return to competitive action against Burnley in the EFL Cup next week.
More Manchester United stories
Cody Gakpo, who impressed for the Netherlands at the World Cup, has opened the door on a move to Old Trafford (opens in new tab) amid reports that he is set to leave PSV in the January window.
Erik ten Hag has spoken about Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit (opens in new tab) for the first time after the club and player parted ways by mutual consent last month.
And United are on red alert after it emerged that Paris Saint-Germain are pushing hard to sign Marcus Rashford (opens in new tab).
