Manchester United transfer rumour: Red Devils 'keen to sign' Valencia midfielder Carlos Soler before next summer

Manchester United are reportedly "keen to sign" Valencia midfielder Carlos Soler after the end of the 2017/18 season.

The 20-year-old came up through the ranks of the Spanish club's youth system, before breaking into the first team in December 2016. During this season, he scored one goal and registered four assists in nine La Liga appearances. His only goal came in Valencia's 2-2 draw against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu.

According to the Daily Mail, Soler attracted United interest in the second half of the last season. His impressive form has seen the Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho keep close tabs on the midfielder.

United are only looking to sign him after the end of the current campaign. In the last summer transfer window, the 20-time English champions completed the signing of Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic early in the transfer window.

Mourinho and United want to replicate the same in the next summer window and have set their sights on completing Soler's deal even before the next summer transfer window opens. The Old Trafford club have already started talks with Valencia over the possibility of signing the Spain Under-20 international.

The Portuguese tactician has the services of Matic, Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick as the first choice midfielders in the squad. The latter is set to retire after the end of the season and Soler can take the place of English midfielder at United.

Soler's current deal with Los Che will run down in 2021 and has a £75m ($99m) release clause in his contract. However, United are looking to negotiate and lower the fee as they believe a fee of around £30m ($39.6m) would be sufficient in convincing Valencia to part ways with the Spaniard.

United were linked with a move for Soler earlier in the summer. However, the midfielder has played down the reports after suggesting that his focus remains on contributing to Valencia on the pitch.

"(That's) something that's done by the club, by agents. When I go out on the pitch to play, I'm not thinking: 'wow, I've got a really high buyout clause and I've got a lot of responsibility on my shoulders'," Soler told Sky Sports.