Manchester United Given Green Light To Bid €18m for French Midfielder

Montpellier manager Jean Fernandez has admitted that should Manchester United make their reported interest in Remy Cabella official with a bid of €18m the club will have little choice but to sell.

The 23-year-old attacking midfielder is the latest player to be linked with a move to Old Trafford as David Moyes aims to bolster his options having failed to sign a number of targets during the summer transfer window.

Montpellier appear to be resigned to losing the influential Cabella this winter, a prospect reinforced after his emphatic start to his Ligue 1 campaign where he has found the back of the net five times in the club's opening eight league games.

Reports suggest United are now prepared to sign the former France Under-21 international and will be boosted by comments from Fernandez, who suggests the club can do little to stop the player leaving should an adequate offer come in, despite the disastrous affects his departure could have on the Ligue 1 club.

"He is an intelligent boy who is enjoying a good season," Fernandez told Reuters France.

"Now, if in the winter transfer window Manchester United offer €18m as I read it, he must go. Although that would 'kill' the team, one cannot refuse."

Given Moyes' reluctance to play Shinji Kagawa this season, the former Everton manager may have his eye on another advanced midfielder to operate in the space behind his strikers. The inventive Cabella could fit that bill and may well be encouraged by Montpellier's willingness to do business.

The French club's outspoken owner Louis Nicollin previously placed an exorbitant £100m price tag on the midfielder's head in an effort to fend off previous interest from Arsenal. But with Cabella eager to play for a club competing in the Champions League, the club would now appear to do business at a more reasonable price.

"What I want is to play in the Champions League again. I'm obsessed with it," Cabella told France Football last month.