Manchester United are lining up a shock move for Euro 2012 winner Fernando Llorente.
According to Spanish newspaper AS, United missed out on signing Llorente last season after Athletic said he was not for sale. Sir Alex Ferguson, however, has reignited his interest in the striker and is determined to bring him to Old Trafford.
Llorente had a disappointing Euro 2012 campaign, where he was an unused substitute for the entire tournament. The 28-year-old, however, was hugely impressive for Bilbao against United in the Europa League, where he tormented the United defense at will and scored in both legs.
Manchester City and Arsenal have previously been linked with a move for Llorente, who scored 29 goals in 51 appearances for Bilbao last season.
Bilbao have said previously they will not let their striker go on the cheap, saying the Spanish international would not leave for anything less than the €40 million release clause (£32 million, $50 million) in his contract.
Bilbao president Josu Urrutia said: "He is a key player and we would not accept less, the supporters would not accept this."
It is highly unlikely the Glazer family, the American owners of the club, will sanction such a high price for Llorente, who, at 28, will have little or no sell-on value
Meanwhile, the Glazers are trying to recoup United's £423 million ($663 million) debt, through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the New York Stock Exchange.
American owners Glazers hope to get back at least $100 million (£64 million) from the IPO. The United shares will now be split into two types - Class A and Class B.
Class A shares will be the ones going on the stock market, with the Class B shares, which carry 10 times more voting rights, staying with the Glazers.
Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST) said anything to decrease the club's debt was welcome. "A minority shareholding with inferior voting rights and no dividends is going to severely impact on the attraction to both financial and supporter investors.
"However, if it turns out that the vast majority of the proceeds are used to pay off the debt that is certainly something MUST would welcome and entirely vindicates our long-standing position that their debt was damaging our club."
Striker Dimitar Berbatov, who has been heavily linked with a move to Turkish club Galatasaray, will join United on the club's pre-season tour to South Africa and China with Ferguson admitting no move for the striker was imminent. "Nothing has happened with Dimitar and he'll join the tour to South Africa and China," Ferguson told MUTV.
"He's a fantastic footballer. It wasn't a great season for him last season, partly because I settled more with (Wayne) Rooney and (Danny) Welbeck and Chicharito (Javier Hernandez).
"I don't think I treated him unfairly, but he can feel disappointed he didn't get more football. He's a fantastic talent."
