Manchester United Transfer News: Red Devils told to Fork out £28.5m for Uruguayan Defender

Atletico Madrid have fired a warning at Manchester United saying that their defender Diego Godin will not be sold for anything less than the £28.5 million in his buy-out clause.

The Red Devils have been recently linked with several central defenders including Aston Villa's Ron Vlaar, Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels and Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte, as Louis van Gaal looks to solve his defensive issues in January.

Godin is the latest defender to be linked with a January move to Old Trafford, with there being reports of United lining up a £16 million bid for the 28-year-old centre-back.

But Atletico boss Diego Simeone laughed off the speculations, insisting that Louis van Gaal would have to pay a lot more than £16 million to secure the Uruguayan defender's signature in January.

Now the Express claims that the Red Devils will have to pay the full £28.5 million in Godin's release-clause if they want to land him in the winter transfer window.

Although van Gaal is quite desperate to sign a new defender in January due to half of his defensive players currently being on the sidelines, it remains to be seen if he will be willing to fork out £28.5 million on an ageing defender or move to his other targets.

Meanwhile, La Liga side Valencia are reportedly looking to hijack Manchester United's move for Benfica midfielder Enzo Perez.

Earlier it was believed that United were leading the race to sign the 28-year-old midfielder, with there being reports of the Argentine being interested in teaming up with his international teammate Angel di Maria at Old Trafford.

However, now the Express claims that Valencia are leading the race to sign Perez, with the La Liga side's president Amadeo Salvo reportedly personally flying to Portugal to discuss a potential deal for the midfielder.

If Valencia manage do to beat United to Perez's signature in January, it would certainly be a big blow for the Red Devils as they are in need of an experienced and intelligent midfielder like him.

Although van Gaal's main priority in January is to sign a new defender, the Dutchman is also reportedly searching for a new central midfielder as he looks to deploy the 4-4-2 system at Old Trafford.