Manchester United are understood to be closing in on a deal to bring striker Yoshinori Muto to Old Trafford.
The 23-year-old currently features for Mainz where, after featuring in German football for only six months, he has already demonstrated his class in possession and the menace he poses in offensive areas.
To date, he has bagged seven goals and contributed two assists in 17 appearances in the Bundesliga, catapulting Mainz into eighth place in the process.
He currently sits joint-eighth in the German scoring charts, an impressive feat for a player ostensibly still finding his feet in the European game.
However, he may soon be heading for the exit door at the Coface Arena, with the Mirror reporting that United have been tracking the player and are closing in on a deal to bring him to Manchester.
The report states that the Red Devils are nearing agreement on a £12 million deal with the German side, with Muto understood to be being considered as van Gaal as a more realistic option than Senegal and Southampton frontman Sadio Mane.
Muto is nicknamed the ‘Japanese Messi’ according to the tabloid, and may boast the kind of ball control and dribbling skills to transform Louis van Gaal’s staid attack.
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