Manchester United reportedly had a £23.1 million offer for Mauro Icardi rejected in January by Inter Milan but are likely to renew their pursuit of him in the summer.

That’s according to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport (h/t Uche Amako of the Express), with Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News adding: “Expect United to return with an improved bid for the Argentinian in the summer.”

The 22-year-old, who was the joint top scorer in Serie A last season with 22 goals, has thus far hit 10 in 21 games this season.

Icardi is a ruthless and clinical finisher—a quality United undoubtedly have need of, as their attack has severely lacked a cutting edge for much of the current campaign—as his goalscoring record demonstrates, per Opta Paolo:

Though Wayne Rooney is currently back in form, as the Red Devils captain demonstrated for most of 2015, he can no longer always be relied upon for goals, while Anthony Martial alone—impressive though he may be—isn’t enough for a club of United’s ambition of winning league titles and challenging in Europe.

Last season, sports journalist Jonas Giaever believes Icardi has a big future ahead of him:

According to Mediaset Premium (h/t Amako), following a report from talkSPORT that the youngster had clashed with manager Roberto Mancini, Inter vice-president and former stalwart Javier Zanetti said the striker is happy to stay put.

“There is no Icardi problem, we have great faith in him. The decision to make him captain was shared by everyone,” Zanetti said. “He is very young, but in the locker room he is recognised as a positive leader.”

However, as Inter no longer have the pulling power they once enjoyed, it would hardly be a surprise if a bigger and wealthier club were able to snap him up in future.

At the other end of the pitch, United have largely been better, conceding just 22 goals in 25 Premier League games. Nevertheless, a top-quality centre-back option should be among their targets this summer as they seek to restore the fearsome reputation they once enjoyed.

One such target could be Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte, who according to Telefoot (h/t Sport), has claimed he would reject an approach from Barcelona. 

“FC Barcelona is one of the most important clubs in the world, but I would reject an offer from them,” Laporte said. “They have not talked to me to present an offer, not this season or last, but it wouldn’t interest me.”

Sport note he has been linked with the Red Devils in the past. Indeed, the Manchester Evening News (h/t James Whaling of the Mirror) reported an approach from United is “imminent.”

La Liga writer Andrew Gaffney is a big fan of the youngster, who extended his stay in the Basque region last summer:

However, it would seem that rather than opening the door for United, Laporte is instead closing it to any and all interested clubs. He added, per Sport: “All the future is ahead, playing these years at Athletic.”

Indeed, the defender seems intent on staying put at Bilbao despite being much coveted around Europe.

Should he become available, United and a whole host of clubs would undoubtedly vie for his signature, but that might not be for quite some time as things stand.

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