Manchester United join the race for Leon Goretzka

Bengaluru, December 3: Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka is currently at the centre of a bidding war between four different clubs and according to reports, the recent top club to be linked with him is Manchester United.

The midfielder has only six months left on his current contract and has refused to extend his contract at the club despite being offered a new five-year deal with an annual salary of €10million to make him the highest-ever paid the player at the club.

And with January approaching, he will now be able to negotiate a deal via Bosman transfer and as per Skysports, along with Premier League rivals Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal, Manchester United too have joined the race.

According to reports, Mourinho is eager to replace Michael Carrick with a midfielder who has depth in passing and has reportedly targeted the 24-year-old German midfielder to fulfill that role.

It is understood that he Portuguese also has told the United board that he wants them to be front of the queue during Goretzka's transfer talks and, has requested Ed Woodward & co to make an approach for the midfield enforcer in the winter.

Goretzka has established himself as one of the top players for Schalke since the 2013/14 season and has long been regarded as one of the promising players in the world.

The 22-year-old scored five times for Schalke last year whereas also dazzled everyone with his performances for Germany at the Confederations Cup where he finished as the top scorer of the tournament.

He also has been terrific this season and has scored four goals from the midfield to inspire his team to a third place in the Bundesliga table, seven points behind leaders Bayern.

Schalke in the last two years have lost a bunch of talented players like Joel Matip, Sead Kolasinac, Julian Draxler and Leroy Sane to top clubs like PSG, Liverpool and City and now if their midfield general Goretzka also leaves on a free transfer it will surely be a big blow for the German side.