United Set For Tug-of-War In £20m Defender Chase – Report

Manchester United face a fight from Napoli in their pursuit of Ezequiel Garay as Rafa Benitez looks to build on his side's depth in January.

Napoli have big ambitions this season and with the side currently third in the league, Benitez is likely to spend further in order to mount a serious title challenge despite investing heavily in the summer.

And despite United showing a long term interest in the 27-year-old, Talksport claim that Napoli will look to steal the march on the side in January and complete a deal for the Benfica man.

After spending three years on the periphery of the Real Madrid first team, Garay made the move to Benfica in 2011 and has since been a driving force behind the side's success.

He revealed in the summer that United had been seriously pursuing his signature but claimed that David Moyes' arrival put any possibility of a deal on hold.

Moyes missed out on signing the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Cesc Fabregas and Ander Herrera before deadline day came to a close and will be keen to make amends in January.

Multiple reports have claimed that Moyes will spend big in the winter to make up for only being able to land Marouane Fellaini in the summer.

But with Garay boasting a fee of around £20m the manager will certainly have to dig deep to beat Napoli to the Argentina international, though his purchase would certainly help a defensive line-up at United which has been particularly weak in recent seasons as Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic suffer from ongoing injuries.