{"id":8565,"date":"2026-05-15T02:58:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=8565"},"modified":"2026-05-15T02:58:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:58:36","slug":"ineos-ask-about-aston-villa-striker-but-ratcliffes-big-priority-is-chelsea-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=8565","title":{"rendered":"INEOS \u2018ask about\u2019 Aston Villa striker but \u2018Ratcliffe&#8217;s big priority\u2019 is Chelsea star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Manchester United have asked about Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins and are keen on Barcelona star Fermin Lopez, according to a Spanish report, which has also revealed that the heart of Red Devils\u2019 co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is set on Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Carrick has done a remarkable job at <strong>Man Utd<\/strong> since becoming the interim manager in January 2026, with the team having qualified for the Champions League for the 2026\/27 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Man Utd co-owners, INEOS, are now looking to make major signings in the summer transfer window, as the Premier League giants continue to rebuild their squad.<\/p>\n<p>It has been reported in the Spanish media that Man Utd have made a move to sign Aston Villa striker <strong>Ollie Watkins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Man Utd co-owner, <strong>Sir Jim Ratcliffe<\/strong>though, would much rather sign <strong>Cole Palmer<\/strong> from Chelsea.<\/p>\n<p>However, Chelsea do not want to sell the England international attacking midfielder, who is one of the best and most important players for the London club.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ: \u00a380m midfielder \u2018extremely keen\u2019 to join Man Utd and \u2018succeed\u2019 Bruno Fernandes after \u2018contact\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Man Utd target Ollie Watkins, Cole Palmer and Fermin Lopez<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The report has noted: \u2018Meanwhile, for the attack, they have asked about the availability of Ollie Watkins, from Aston Villa,\u00a0although Jim Ratcliffe\u2019s big priority would be to get Cole Palmer from\u00a0Chelsea.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The problem is that Todd Boehly has refused to negotiate with a direct rival and has demanded astronomical financial compensation.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Apart from that, many doubts have entered Old Trafford, seeing the irregular performance of the English star during this campaign, and his constant physical problems.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><smartframe-embed customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBJHYUhXJh   \" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Spanish report has further added that Man Utd have also taken a shine to Barcelona star <strong>Fermin Lopez<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez is one of the best players in LaLiga and is able to play as an attacking midfielder or as a winger.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand implores Man Utd to \u2018definitely\u2019 sign \u20ac80m Dutch gem and names perfect Casemiro replacement<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old Spain international has scored 13 goals and given 17 assists in 47 matches in all competitions for Barcelona this season.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez helped Hansi Flick\u2019s side win La Liga this season and also played an important role in Barcelona becoming the champions of Spain in the 2024\/25 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The Spaniard found the back of the net eight times and gave 10 assists in 46 appearances for Barcelona last season.<\/p>\n<p>Man Utd are said to be \u2018willing to make a large investment to sign\u2019 Lopez from Barcelona.<\/p>\n<p>The Premier League giants reportedly believe that Lopez \u2018has the qualities and talent necessary to become a luxury partner for Bruno Fernandes\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>However, Barcelona are in mood to sell Lopez and will not listen to any offers for the La Masia graduate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: Rio Ferdinand wants Man Utd to appoint \u2018great\u2019 manager \u2013 \u2018I don\u2019t care what Michael Carrick has done\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<p><script>\n        !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n        {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n        n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n        if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n        n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n        t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);\n        s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n        'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n        fbq('init', '1399787394855675');\n        fbq('track', 'PageView');\n    <\/script><script>\n        !function(e,n,t){var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)(0);e.getElementById\n    <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester United have asked about Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins and are keen on Barcelona&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}