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Manchester United's plan to raid Germany this summer has been given a double boost.
The fallen champions have put Borussia Dortmund pair Ilkay Gundogan and Marco Reus as well as Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos on an extensive list of targets after arming David Moyes with the biggest transfer budget in Old Trafford history.
United’s chances of doing business with Dortmund have been lifted by the interest that last season’s Champions League finalists are showing in Shinji Kagawa.
The Japanese international won successive Bundesliga titles with Dortmund before moving to Manchester for £16million in 2012, but he has made little impact at United and his failure to impress Moyes has opened the door for a return to his former club.
Gundogan, who has been sidelined for six months with a back injury, is a more realistic target for the Reds than Reus.
Dortmund will lose Robert Lewandowski to rivals Bayern this summer when his contract expires and they will not want Gundogan to depart for free in 2015.
If the German club firm up their interest in Kagawa then United will look to use him as a makeweight in a deal that involves Gundogan or Reus.
But they will also continue to monitor Kroos’ deteriorating relationship with Bayern in Munich.
Especially after it was revealed that he’s 15th on the club’s wage ladder and earns only a third of the £180,000-a-week salary being paid to Franck Ribery and Mario Gotze.
Would Dortmund fans be happy with swapping Swagster for Gundogan?
Reus would be awesome, Kroos less so.