Manchester United line-up summer mover for Monaco's Fabinho

Bengaluru, February 8: Premier League giants Manchester United will launch a £45million move for Monaco star Fabinho this summer, according to reports in France.

Jose Mourinho has been in the hunt for a defensive midfielder and a new right-back for quite some time now and Fabinho is player who is well capable of playing in either of the two positions he is looking for.

The Red Devils were linked with a swoop for the Brazilian last month, but instead concentrated on bringing Alexis Sanchez to the club from Arsenal.

However, respected Sky Italia journalist Gianluca Di Marzio says they will step-up their pursuit of the 24-year-old South American at the end of the season.

And negotiations have already begun between United chiefs and their Monaco counterparts with the Red Devils hoping to seal the deal as quickly as possible.

The Old Trafford giants are not the only club interested in Fabinho, with French giants Paris Saint-Germain also keen on the midfield enforcer.

Fabinho made his name in Europe last season when Monaco won the Ligue 1 and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

After being converted from a right-back to midfield, Fabinho was directly involved in 14 goals in all competitions in 2016/17, scoring ten goals and adding a further four assists which is an excellent figure for a defensive midfielder.

Fabinho has been in demand in both the summer transfer window and also in January but Monaco managed to hold onto their priced asset but it would be a surprise if they can hold onto him after the summer.

Fabinho himself fuelled the speculations in a recent interview.

"It should be my last season at Monaco. I haven’t signed anything. Atletico or PSG? I’m a Monaco player. I need to prove I can play on teams like that.

"We’ll see in May. I used to read the papers. I don’t anymore. I’m OK with that."