Manchester United have now been handed the green light to sign Cristian Romero from Tottenham Hotspur and INEOS could even land a cut-price deal.
Man Utd set to battle Real Madrid for Romero
The Red Devils have plenty of reason for optimism these days. Not only are they on course to qualify for the Champions League, they're on course to do so in style.
With doubts emerging over Michael Carrick for the first time in recent weeks, the interim boss picked up a much-needed statement victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, adding to earlier wins against Arsenal and Manchester City in his tenure.
Whether Matheus Cunha's winner was enough to tempt INEOS into handing Carrick the permanent gig remains to be seen. Recent rumours would suggest that they're considering all options, with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann threatening to steal the headlines.
Whoever does take the reins this summer will be backed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who already transformed Man United's frontline with some impressive additions last year.
The tactic last summer seemed to be targeting Premier League talent and it's since brought plenty of success. As a result, the Red Devils aren't set to fix something that's not broken.
According to Caught Offside, Man United have received a green light to sign Romero from Tottenham this summer, with Spurs now willing to sell after initially being keen to keep hold of their skipper.
As things stand, Spurs are one point adrift of safety with five games left to play. Their captain is increasingly unlikely to stick around and has publicly intimated he is open to a move, while their €65m (£57m) price tag will drop further if they go down.
It's not just the Red Devils who are interested in the Tottenham captain however - both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have got the tough tackling defender on their radar.
Romero is Maguire's successor
Just days after Noussair Mazraoui was forced to play centre-back against Chelsea, Man United have set their sights on signing Romero. The Argentine defender would tick plenty of boxes this summer, not least of which the one regarding Premier League expertise.
There's no doubt that Romero would be worth winning the race for either. Whilst Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro are stars for the future, United are still lacking an experienced centre-back at the peak of his powers next to Harry Maguire or Lisandro Martinez amid Matthijs de Ligt's injury issues.
Dubbed "unbelievable" by centre-back partner Micky van de Ven, Romero is certainly one to watch this summer.
He could even take Maguire's place in Man United's best side, given how he's outperformed the England international in several departments this season.