Manchester United Transfer Rumour: Moyes Makes €30m Bid for Spanish Midfielder

Manchester United have reportedly made a €30m move for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera.

David Moyes remains keen on signing a midfielder before the transfer window closes, after identifying the position as priority for strengthening. Top target Cesc Fabregas chose to remain at Barcelona, while Thiago Alcantara opted to move to Bayern Munich.

Reports have strongly linked the Scot with a move for his former charge and Everton star Marouane Fellaini but the interest has cooled of late and, according to the Express, the manager has now made a formal approach for the Bilbao man.

Spanish radio station Cadena Cope - who broke the news that Thiago joined Bayern - claims the Red Devils' offer for Herrera was around €30m (£25.6m). The 24-year-old, who joined the Lions from Real Zaragoza in 2011, has been a long-time target for United and arch-rivals Manchester City.

However, Bilbao do not generally negotiate on the sale of a first-team player - as we witnessed in the cases ofJavi Martinez and Fernando Llorente last summer - and the only option for United to snap up the midfielder now is understood to be to meet his €36m (£30.7m) release clause.

Herrera, who made 29 appearances in the La Liga last season, played a key role in Bilbao's run to the final of the Europa League and the Copa del Rey during the 2011/12 campaign. He also won the European U21 Championship with Spain in 2011.

Meanwhile, Shinji Kagawa's agent insists the playmaker will remain a United player this season.

Recent reports hinted the Japan international could be offloaded due to his failure to win a regular a spot in the first team. However, the player's representative, Thomas, Kroth played down the speculation.

"Shinji will currently not be leaving Manchester United. He wants to fight for his place. Because of the Confederations Cup, he did not have a full pre-season and therefore still has a training deficit. That's why he, until now, has won hardly any playing time. Atletico [Madrid] made an enquiry, although this was never an issue for Shinji," the agent pointed out.