Escude still dreaming of United move

Rennes defender Julien Escude has not given up on his dream move to Manchester United.

Negotiations between the two sides appeared to collapse last night with the French outfit refusing to lower their asking price – believed to be £5m (€7.82m).

Escude is hopeful that a new offer will arrive before the August 31 transfer deadline, although that may depend on United’s ability to overturn their 1-0 deficit against Hungarian side Zalaegerszeg in the second leg of their Champions League qualifying tie at Old Trafford tonight.

Speaking at Rennes today where he is recovering a knee injury, Escude said: “My agents are working for me right now.

“I am also injured and I am concentrating on treating my knee to be back into action as fast as possible.

“Whether the failure of the negotiations on Monday will push me to resume training, I cannot answer that question yet.

“The deadline for the transfer window is August 31. I will decide after that, whatever happens.”

Before the freak injury, suffered while walking his dog, Escude was training on his own to protest against Rennes’ unwillingness to let him leave.

The clubs had previously met two weeks ago, when a huge gap in the value of the player emerged.

United were believed to be offering in the region of £2.5m (€3.9m).

“There was no more money, so there is no agreement,” said a Rennes spokesman on Monday evening.

“Maybe there will be another meeting at some point but at the moment nothing has been arranged. We will wait to see what Manchester United do now.”