Exclusive: Man United battling Liverpool for transfer of 19-year-old rising star

Manchester United look to be showing an increasing interest in the potential transfer of highly-rated young Como winger Assane Diao.

Sources with a close understanding of the player’s situation have informed CaughtOffside that he’s attracting interest from Man Utd, Liverpool and Newcastle ahead of the summer.

Diao has a contract until 2029 with Como, so they’re not under too much pressure to sell, and there’s not currently a clear indication of an asking price for the player.

United have recently had scouts watching Diao play in Serie A, and the club have received positive reports on the 19-year-old attacker, CaughtOffside understands.

Liverpool are also considering turning to Diao this summer, but are still waiting for clarification on what will happen with Mohamed Salah’s future.

Assane Diao in action for Como (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Assane Diao heading for the Premier League?

Diao looks like he’ll be hard for Como to hold on to, so it could be that a move to a big Premier League club is inevitable for him in the near future.

The Senegal international has the pace and skill to be a real asset for a top team, and it’s easy to imagine him being a good fit for what Ruben Amorim is trying to build at Old Trafford.

MUFC have issues in attack right now, so it probably wouldn’t be difficult to give Diao a key role in the team straight away.

Liverpool, by contrast, have a lot of depth in that area of their squad, even if Salah leaves, so Diao might not feel he’d get as many opportunities to show what he can do if he made the move to Anfield.

At the same time, though, United are a club that have proven something of a graveyard for talent in recent years, so Diao might do well to be cautious about the risk of entering what has been a pretty unstable environment.