Manchester United are planning a £51 million bid to sign a new midfielder who starred at the World Cup.

The World Cup is an opportunity for clubs to assess whether the players are capable of performing on the biggest stage.

That can also come with players seeing their price tags drastically increase, with selling clubs knowing they are announcing themselves on the world stage.

It can be risky business for clubs to sign players based on World Cup performances, but it is a real opportunity to see talent from around the globe.

United will have multiple scouts at the tournament, and they are specifically looking to bring in midfielders in the summer transfer window.

Man Utd eyeing World Cup midfielder

According to a report from United in Focus, Manchester United are now planning a bid in the region of £51 million for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha in the summer transfer window.

United are looking to bring in a physical presence in the middle of the park, and Nmecha is viewed as a player who could help their rebuild in midfield.

United do face competition from Chelsea for the signature of the German international, but the Red Devils’ interest is believed to be the most advanced.

It remains to be seen whether the offer of £51 million will be enough to tempt Dortmund into accepting an offer.

Nmecha, who has been described as being ‘one of the best midfielders in the world’, is just one of many midfielders who United have been linked with in the summer transfer window as they look to find a replacement for Casemiro.

Nmecha well known at United

via Reuters

Nmecha, who is believed to be open to moving to the Premier League, is someone who is well known by some of the hierarchy at Old Trafford.

Manchester United director Jason Wilcox worked with Nmecha when they were both at Manchester City’s Academy. The German midfielder made three competitive appearances for United’s rivals before leaving the club to join Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.

Whether Wilcox can have an influence on Nmecha making the move to United remains to be seen, but it’s no surprise that United are interested.

Nmecha moved to Manchester as a child and spent 14 years with the Citizens, so he’s no stranger to living in the North West of England.

Egypt’s World Cup journey has come to an end following a mighty comeback against Argentina. Lionel Messi was once again at the centre of attention, assisting and scoring a goal in the 3-2 win despite missing a penalty.

Egypt did take the lead and even extended it to 2-0, but they couldn’t hold on as Argentina launched a comeback with just over 10 minutes left to go.

The game was filled with plenty of controversy, however, as Egypt had a goal disallowed in the 60th minute, with Lisandro Martínez deemed to have fouled at the complete opposite end of the pitch. Despite this being ruled out, Argentina’s winning goal was allowed to stand even though a similar situation had happened down the other end of the pitch.

Ziko Slams Referee Performance

The game looked set to be going Egypt’s way, and they could’ve been 3-0 up if it wasn’t for a goal being perhaps unfairly ruled out. After the game, striker Mostafa Ziko vented his frustrations about some of the refereeing decisions in the game, arguing that the World Cup has been ‘rigged’ to favour Argentina.

Ziko said: “Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup; the tournament was rigged, they didn’t need anything else. The referee was unfair. At no point did we think the match was already decided. We knew we were facing the reigning world champions.

“Even before the game started, we knew we would be facing a very strong team and one of the favourites for the title.

“But if they had won solely on their own merits, it would have been very different for us.”

“God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He is wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is being given to Argentina,” he added.

Ziko scored once during the game, and he was also the scorer of the unfairly ruled-out goal. A win for Egypt would have seen them progress to the quarter-finals of the competition, which would’ve been the furthest they have ever gone in the nation’s history.

Argentina Sneak Through

Action images via Reuters

The win for Argentina means that they are through to the quarter-finals of the competition, and they will play whoever wins the round of 16 tie between Switzerland and Colombia. Having only just beaten Cape Verde in the previous round, they would’ve hoped for a smoother game against Egypt, but once again they had a poor display, which saw them trail for the majority of the game.

Messi looked to have let his side down once again, as he missed a penalty in the first half, but you cannot doubt one of the greatest of all time, as he went on to provide an assist for Cristian Romero whilst also scoring a goal of his own to aid the comeback.

As much as a fairytale comeback it was, Argentina will be worried about their performances, especially as the tournament reaches its latter stages and the quality of teams gets better, and for them, it could be a semi-final tie against Norway or England awaiting them.

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan could be punished by FIFA after making an ‘X’ gesture the referee ignored during The Pharaoh’s dramatic 3-2 loss to Argentina on Tuesday night, and an explanation has now emerged why.

Mohamed Salah and co. were dumped out of the World Cup in the most agonising fashion in Atlanta, Georgia. Leading 2-0 with 11 minutes left on the clock, the current world champions scored three times in 14 minutes, though the decision not to give Egypt a penalty has caused a huge stir, with a VAR expert casting a strong verdict on it.

It was Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez who finished off a speedy counterattack from that decision to wave play on, planting a header beyond the goalkeeper in the 93rd minute. He wheeled away to the symphony of an emotional Argentina travelling support, but also to the chaos that erupted on the bench as the two sets of backroom staff clashed with each other.

Egypt Manager’s ‘X’ Gesture a Cause For Controversy

After referee Francois Letexier showed a yellow card to one of Egypt’s coaching staff in the 98th minute, Hassan made an ‘X’ gesture towards the official. The gesture is commonly used for reporting instances of alleged racist abuse, though it is unclear whether it was definitively used for that reason in particular.

Following Hassan’s gesture, an Egypt substitute intervened, before his brother and coach Ibrahim walked across to put Hassan’s hands back by his sides. See the incident below:

Letexier then had a lengthy discussion with both manager and coach, with Ibrahim making a thumbs-up gesture towards the referee before he returned to the pitch. It is unclear as to whether he took any further action, but the gesture has previously been deemed an ‘offensive expression’ depicting a pair of handcuffs.

Hossam Hassan Now Faces Potential FIFA Punishment

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Anne-Marie Sorvin

According to Mickey Jnr, a leading African football journalist, the 59-year-old will be investigated by FIFA after the incident, with it being suggested that he could face a suspension.

In 2010, then Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho showed a similar ‘X’ gesture. He was subsequently given a three-match ban, though it remains to be seen how much the law over that particular gesture has changed in 16 years.