Manchester United fail in bid for Borussia Dortmund star

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Manchester United fail in bid for Borussia Dortmund star

26/05/2012 10:26 am

Manchester United have failed to meet Borussia Dortmund's valuation of their highly-rated midfielder Shinja Kagawa after having a €16 million bid turned down.

The 23-year-old Japanese international has long been a transfer target of the Red Devils, with interest originally circulating last summer, not to mention that United boss Alex Ferguson sat in the stands to watch Dortmund and Kagawa destroy Bayern Munich 5-2 in the German Cup final earlier this month.

However, with a year to left on his contract Dortmund have set an asking price of €20 million for Kagawa's services, as they are keenly aware that the window of opportunity to cash in on the player - who cost just £280,000 from Cerezo Osaka two years ago - is closing.

Kagawa's future could largely depend on where fellow midfield target Eden Hazard ends up, as the loudmouth Belgian has still not decided his future but is delighting in telling all asunder that he has offers from Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.

What is apparent, however, is that Kagawa's teammates and manager are resigned to the player leaving this summer and fulfilling a dream to play in the Premier League.

"Shinji is a world-class player, but honestly, I don't expect him to stay with us," said defender Hummels after the German Cup final. "Otherwise, he would have extended his contract by now."

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp also echoed Hummels' statements in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung the same week, claiming that Kagawa will only move to the Premier League.

"We cannot blank out Shinji's childhood and his Japanese culture," he said. "Back in Japan, the Bundesliga is nothing, while the English league is everything."


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Emmet Purcell
Emmet Purcell
Liffey Champion Short Story of the Week winner, March 1996
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