Meet Morten Hjulmand - the £69m Manchester United transfer solution with an Arsenal tattoo

Morten Hjulmand might need the number of a Manchester tattoo parlour.

The midfielder has been linked with a move to Old Trafford after a fine start to life at Sporting Lisbon, who he only joined in the summer. His rise began in Italy where he helped Lecce earn promotion to Serie A.

The Denmark international has had something of a nomadic journey in the game thus far having signed for Austrian side Admira Wacker as a teenager from FC Copenhagen before moving to Italy. His six months at Sporting have catapulted him into the mainstream and United are reportedly taking notice.

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Hjulmand is an international team-mate of Christian Eriksen, who has offered him advice and opinion in the early stages of his Denmark career. The prospect of the two playing together for club and country would seemingly rest on United being prepared to meet Sporting's £69million release clause, a bold sum for a player with relatively little experience at the elite level.

And while United might try to turn his head, the player's heart is with Arsenal. The Gunners signed Declan Rice in the summer to reinvent their midfield and while Hjulmand might love to have moved to the Emirates, he is likely enjoying watching Mikel Arteta's side. As a child, he supported Arsenal during their rise under Arsene Wenger and idolised Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. He's got the Arsenal badge tattooed on his arm, something that might need addressing if he ended up at Old Trafford.

"When I started watching football, Arsenal had a fantastic team and Patrick Vieira was the captain and played in midfield. He was and is a great inspiration for me," said Hjulmand earlier this season.

"My father had supported Arsenal for many years and we started watching the games when we were younger. Thierry Henry was also an incredible player to watch. There were players with great personality at Arsenal, but I especially liked these two."

His Arsenal interest aside, Hjulmand looks a reasonable fit for a United midfield in need of improving with a younger age profile. The 24-year-old is a defensive midfielder who is adept at recycling possession while also having the ability to break the lines with progressive passes. He has the tackling ability of an elite central player and despite a relative lack of goals thus far, he is more than capable of scoring from distance.

He was made captain at Lecce and is set to line up alongside Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund in the Denmark squad for this summer's European Championships. He speaks three languages including English and is learning Portuguese.

Hjulmand has made 20 appearances for Sporting since his summer arrival helping them into the Europa League knockout stages and to the top of the table, slotting seamlessly in to their midfield. He could be a visible presence in a United midfield too, but his tattoo might need to be invisible