Manchester United are in pole position to sign Hoffenheim left-back with Borussia Dortmund unlikely to meet the asking price, Sky Germany reports.
The 24-year-old joined Hoffenheim on a free transfer from Greuther Furth last summer. He had a wonderful debut season with three goals and 13 assists from 35 appearances.
Raum operated from the left-back and left wing-back positions for the Bundesliga outfit. His performances have already made him a regular with the German national side.
It is now reported that Premier League clubs would be favourites to land Raum as Dortmund can’t afford to pay over €30 million. United are mentioned as the main suitors.
Meanwhile, a separate report from BILD (via Keven Bader) suggests that Hoffenheim want at least €40m for the attacking full-back with United, Newcastle and West Ham keen.
Raum had a fantastic season at Hoffenheim, excelling in ball movement and critical passes (2.6 per game). Despite this, he was a competent defensive player, averaging 1.6 tackles per game and 0.8 interceptions.
His qualities would be ideal for incoming manager Erik ten Hag, who prefers attacking football with overlapping full-backs. Denzel Dumfries has also been connected with the club in recent weeks.
While a new right-back could be a priority this summer, United’s interest in bolstering the left-back position remains to be seen. Last season, Luke Shaw and Alex Telles performed admirably.
Shaw had a number of injury setbacks, although he had been at the height of his game at the European Championships just a year before. Last season, Telles served as his deputy and contributed five goals.
Ten Hag may believe he can work with the present group of players, who are more forward-thinking than their right-back counterparts. We don’t see United spending a lot of money on Raum unless one of them quits.