Man Utd’s “dream” target is €240,000-a-week French superstar

Scotland have drafted Manchester United youngster Tyler Fletcher into their World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Billy Gilmour.

Fletcher, the 19-year-old son of former Scotland captain Darren, was handed his international debut after coming on at half-time in Saturday’s 4-1 friendly win over Curacao at Barclays Hampden.

The teenage midfielder has now been added to Scotland’s 26-strong World Cup squad after Napoli playmaker Gilmour suffered a knee injury during the first half against Curacao, which has ruled him out of the tournament that starts next month in North America.

Fletcher was one of five young players given the chance to join Scotland for training over the past week and made a big impression on boss Steve Clarke.

Clarke said on Saturday when assessing his options: “Obviously I’ve got Connor Barron, Andy Irving, Lennon Miller, and you see for yourself how good young Tyler is.

“The three that I mentioned are on standby. Obviously Tyler joined us this week. He’s trained well this week so he’s a little bit closer than the other three.”

Fletcher has only played twice for United’s first-team, totalling just 17 minutes of action, but has featured prominently for the U21 side, playing 41 times and providing ten goal contributions.

The youngster may well need to go out on loan next season to find more playing time with INEOS expected to spend big in his midfield position this summer, and Fabrizio Romano has shared the latest update on United’s plans to reinforce their options in the centre of the park.

Man Utd transfer updates: Ederson, Tchouameni, Valverde

Atalanta midfielder Ederson is expected to join the Red Devils imminently, with a deal close and the player keen to move to Old Trafford.

But Romano confirmed their “dream” target remains Real Madrid star Aurelien Tchouameni.

The reporter claimed links to Real Madrid teammate Federico Valverde are just “rumours”, but differentiated that the talk around the Frenchman is “concrete” and INEOS believe he’s “perfect”.

However, it will be almost impossible to lure Tchouameni to Old Trafford this summer, with Madrid stating both “publicly and privately” that they want to keep the France international, whose €240,000-a-week contract lasts until 2028.

The 26 year-old was part of a bust-up with Valverde that saw the latter sent to the hosptial and both players fined, but he played a significant role for Madrid this season, playing 33 times in La Liga and a further 13 in the Champions League.

Reports have also linked United with another of the Spanish club’s stars, having allegedly held talks to sign winger Vinicius Junior.