Manchester United target £50m Hector Bellerin as Arsenal prepare summer overhaul of squad

Manchester United are keeping tabs on Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin with a view to a possible summer move.

Standard Sport has learned that United first registered an interest in the Spaniard two years ago when Manchester City and Barcelona were also tracking the 23-year-old but he chose to stay at Emirates Stadium.

Bellerin later signed a new six-and-a-half-year deal worth more than £100,000-a-week but the Gunners are facing a fight to avoid a second consecutive season outside the Champions League while the player’s relationship with supporters has become more complicated in recent times.

He was targeted for abuse during Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in April last year and in February, Bellerin was critical of Arsenal Fan TV, accusing the YouTube channel of “feeding off failure”.

Arsenal are looking to finance an overhaul of their squad this summer and it has been suggested that the club could be prepared to listen to offers in excess of £50million.

Juventus are closely monitoring the situation but it is unlikely City would make a formal offer given they bought Kyle Walker from Tottenham last summer and are believed to have identified others areas to strengthen having spent £133m on full-backs during Pep Guardiola’s time in charge.

United boss Jose Mourinho will seek to spend heavily again but it remains to be seen if they make a move for Bellerin this summer. They look certain to be in the market for a left-back as Mourinho’s public criticism of Luke Shaw continued in the wake of last weekend’s 2-0 win over Brighton in their FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford.

Mourinho claimed he wanted to substitute both Shaw and right-back Antonio Valencia but opted for the former because “at least Antonio defensively was capable of good positioning”.

Shaw is understood to have been angered by Mourinho’s latest outburst and his future at Old Trafford looks increasingly bleak but while Valencia’s performances have generally been more consistent this season, United will soon need to identify a long-term replacement given he turns 33 in August.

Any encouragement from either Arsenal or Bellerin could see them revive their interest with the £50m valuation not thought to be prohibitive as United plan another huge summer spending spree in a bid to compete with City for the Premier League title next term.

Arsenal would likely prefer to do business with an overseas club having attracted criticism in recent years for directly strengthening domestic rivals in a series of high-profile departures. But that was also the case with Alexis Sanchez and Robin van Persie and United still convinced the Gunners to sell.