It's starting to look increasingly likely that the Premier League will be losing yet another big midfield name to a European giant without as much as a silver coin being passed.
With Arsenal and Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey securing a pre-contract agreement with serial Serie A winners Juventus to turn out at the Allianz Stadium from next year on, reports emerging from the Daily Record this afternoon appear to suggest that Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrara looks set to go on his travels also.
The 29-year-old Spaniard has been the subject of intensifying transfer speculation in recent weeks after negotiations with the Old Trafford hierarchy in so far as signing a new contract at the Premier League's most decorated club, looked to have stalled.
Having been free to speak to any clubs of his own accord since January, it now seems Herrera will swap Deansgate for the Champs-Elysee after supposedly agreeing on pre-contract terms with Paris St. Germain.
He eventually arrived at United in 2014 after the club had sniffed around the former Athletic Bilbao man for a few seasons, quickly cementing himself into Louis van Gaal's midfield plans.
A barren first season in the north-west was followed by a FA Cup winning campaign in 2015-16 under the enigmatic Dutchman, but it would be the following season, with Jose Mourinho at the helm when Herrera would most impress. His industry and ball-winning tenacity in the middle earned him the personal accolade of club player of the year in 2017, as well as picking up a league cup and a Europa League winners medal with his teammates.
However, Herrera's performances dipped worryingly, particularly in the final few months of the Portuguese man's time in charge and despite a pick-up in form under current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, those earlier performances seem to have cost him the opportunity to extend his June 2019-ending contract, well before now.
Herrera is one of six first-team regulars who as yet has neglected to extend their stays beyond the end of this season.
Antonio Valencia, Andreas Pereira, Matteo Darmian and Herrera's compatriot Juan Mata have all yet put pen to paper on new deals, but United fans will be most concerned by the status of David de Gea as the season-end looms large on the horizon.
The World Cup-winning goalkeeper is reportedly demanding that he become the highest paid earner at the club before he commits to long term plans, although United do have the option to exercise a one year option in July.
Tieing down de Gea is surely a priority for Solskjaer now having been handed the manager's role on a full-time basis, with the Norwegian commenting at his 'unveiling' last Thursday that "we've got a couple of players that we are in talks with and hopefully we can get their futures sorted".
