Manchester United Transfer News: Reus, Coentrao, Kagawa And Gundogan Discussed In Latest Rumors

Borussia Dortmund have revealed that attacking midfielder Marco Reus does have a release clause in his contract, amid further speculation about Manchester United’s interest. The Germany international has excelled since joining Dortmund from Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2012 and has been linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs. And Dortmund have now confirmed that there is a figure in the 24-year-old’s contract that would render them powerless to prevent him from leaving.

“Marco Reus possesses a release clause option in his current contract at our club," Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke told SPORT1media. "He could leave our club due to that. He is, however, the only player in our first team squad that has such a contract clause."

Dortmund lost Mario Gotze when Bayern Munich paid up his buyout clause in the summer and are unsurprisingly believed to be keen to renegotiate Reus’s contract to prevent the same thing from happening. The clause is reported to be €35 million (£29.6m), a fee that several clubs which would surely be tempted to pay given Reus’s performances at the club and international level.

United could certainly do with a player of his creative ability. The Times believes that United could be willing to trade in Shinji Kagawa to get their hands on the player. Ironically, Dortmund signed Reus as a replacement for Kagawa when he moved to Old Trafford. Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp remains a fan of the Japan international and has lamented his fringe role at United. Kagawa has rarely played in the No. 10 position where he excelled in helping Dortmund to consecutive Bundesliga titles. Reus, however, has been primarily deployed from a left-sided role where Kagawa has been shoehorned into at Old Trafford.

The Daily Mail has also reported on the story, but take it one step further in claiming that Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan could also be included in the deal. Like Reus, Gundogan has also been linked with several of Europe’s giants. In particular, Real Madrid and Barcelona are thought to be pushing for a transfer next summer.

In truth, it is hard to envisage any of these purported deals happening until next summer, despite claims that they could go through in the January transfer window. Huge transfers between European giants rarely happen in midseason, with the fact that players are often cup-tied for the Champions League being a particular stumbling block. That would be the case with Reus and Kagawa, although Gundogan, through injury, may not play in the Champions League before the New Year.

In other news, Manchester United look set to have competition should they make another bid to bring Fabio Coentrao to Old Trafford in January. United left it too late with their approach to bring the Portuguese left-back in on a season-long loan in the summer, after having failed with several bids for Everton’s Leighton Baines.

Tottenham had been unable to agree on a deal for Coentrao previous to that, but the London Evening Standard believes that Andre Villas-Boas wants to try and sign him on loan for the rest of the season in January. Coentrao made it clear he wanted to leave the Bernabeu in the summer and, although he has been reintegrated into the squad since, his appearances have been limited, by injury and selection, to just four this season.

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