Manchester United Submit £32m Bid to Beat Barcelona for Fiorentina Winger Juan Cuadrado

Manchester United have reentered the race to sign Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado, who is also a target for Spanish giants Barcelona.

According to French newspaper Le10sport, United are now leading the race to sign the Colombian international. The Catalan club were said to be close to tying up a deal, but the price has become a major factor in this ongoing transfer saga.

The winger's current employers Fiorentina are not willing to let the player go for less than £40m and this has put off Barcelona, as they are struggling to raise the funds required after spending a massive £75m in signing Luis Suarez earlier in the summer. They will have to sell players first, before they can continue their transfer activity.

However, the Red Devils have no such problems and reports claim that that Louis van Gaal's team have now marched ahead and submitted a bid of £32m, with added bonuses, which could eventually match the Serie A club's desired price for the winger.

The Dutchman is a big admirer of Cuadrado, who can play as a winger or as an attacking full-back, which will perfectly suit van Gaal's new 3-5-2 system he is looking to use at Old Trafford.

Moreover, the former Bayern Munich manager recently hinted that he is interested in signing the player, after refusing to talk about him, as the Dutchman feared that his opinion would further increase the player's valuation.

"I cannot talk about Cuadrado, because if I say something about him the price will rise," van Gaal said, as quoted in the Express.

The 26-year-old winger has been in demand from the very beginning of the summer transfer window after his impressive performances for Fiorentina in the previous campaign. He further enhanced his reputation with some blistering performances for Colombia in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.