ERIK TEN HAG has suffered a setback in his pursuit of Fiorentina midfielder Sofya Amrabat after the Moroccan revealed he "could remain" at the club this summer.
Amrabat, 26, caught the attention of Europe's biggest sides during the World Cup as he played an integral part in his country becoming the first African nation to reach the semi-finals.
Man Utd are the frontrunners to sign him ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid and Al-Ahli.
And they are expected to go all out for the ex-Feyenoord and Club Brugge man once they have sealed the £72million signing of Rasmus Hojlund.
It has been reported they have already submitted an initial bid of £21.5m.
However, Amrabat has now cast doubt over whether he will agree to a transfer before the end of the window.
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He was quizzed on his future on Tuesday after Fiorentina beat Serie D side Grosseto 4-0 in a pre-season friendly.
To which he responded: "I don’t know if I’m leaving… maybe I can stay here at Fiorentina."
He then went on to add: "I don't know, I could remain."
United are set to sell several fringe players in order to add to their transfer budget.
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They include Donny van de Beek, Anthony Martial, Brandon Williams and Fred.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag recently spoke about the poor levels the Man Utd squad were at when he arrived last summer.
He said: "I think in general when I came in at Man Utd, the standards were not right. That’s true.
"I demand the highest standards in sleep, recovery and nutrition because that makes the difference if you can perform every third or fourth day.
"That is the demand for every top football player, so at Manchester United we are demanding the highest standards.
"It was about recovery, sleep and nutrition. And we had to improve."
Man Utd kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Wolves on August 14.
But they have not enjoyed the best pre-season following defeats to Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
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