Manchester United earmarked rising La Liga star as top January target

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has earmarked Valencia midfielder Carlos Soler as his top January transfer target, reports The Independent.

Mourinho has been told he must trim his squad if he wants to dip into the January transfer window and that will severely limit United’s activity in the market.

The Portuguese still wants to sign another winger but is now ready to prioritise a new central midfielder after United struggled to cope with Paul Pogba’s absence.

Pogba has been injured for United’s last 12 matches and Mourinho’s side have struggled for creativity from central midfield in that time, which is why the United boss wants to sign Soler.

The 20-year-old only made his first-team debut for Valencia at the end of last year but his rapid progress has caught United’s attention.

Soler, who is a Spain U21 international, has played an integral part in Valencia’s stunning start to the season, starting in every league match.

Valencia are currently Barcelona’s closest challengers in Spain and will resume domestic action after the international break four points behind the La Liga leaders.

Los Che will be incredibly reluctant to lose a player as important as Soler midway through the season when they are trying to get back in the Champions League.

However, failure to qualify for Europe’s top competition could prove costly to Valencia as the Spanish side reportedly need to raise €45m in the next year to meet financial pressures.

An €80m release clause was reportedly included in Soler’s new deal back in May but it’s unlikely United will have to pay that much if Valencia are under pressure to raise funds.

No Spanish player has registered more assists than Soler in La Liga this season (4).