Manchester United are allegedly considering a player-plus-cash deal with AC Milan involving Donny van de Beek and Ismael Bennacer.
Van de Beek has failed to force his way into the Red Devils' side on a consistent basis since arriving in 2020, banking two goals and two assists in 50 games for the club.
Neither Ole Gunnar Solskjaer nor Ralf Rangnick viewed Van de Beek as a regular starter, and he also made just seven Premier League appearances on loan at Everton last season.
Following the arrival of former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, Van de Beek was expected to be given the chance to reignite his Man United career and has been involved in the Red Devils' pre-season matches.
However, Italian outlet Calciomercatoweb states that Van de Beek could instead be offloaded to San Siro as the Red Devils try to entice Bennacer back to England.
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The Algeria international spent two years on the books at Arsenal as a youth player between 2015 and 2017 but only made one senior appearance for the club in the EFL Cup before leaving for Empoli.
Bennacer has since become a mainstay of Stefano Pioli's Milan side and contributed two goals and one assist to the Rossoneri's triumphant 2021-22 Serie A season from 31 appearances.
Bennacer only started 15 Serie A matches last term amid competition from Franck Kessie and Sandro Tonali, although the former has now left to join Barcelona on a free transfer.
The report adds that Milan would be after €45m (£38.2m) in straight cash to part ways with Bennacer, but United could drive the price down considerably by including Van de Beek.
Bennacer only has two years left to run on his AC Milan contract, but Van de Beek recently affirmed that he was "really happy" to be back at Old Trafford for the 2022-23 campaign.
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"[United] is a massive club with a lot of fans and, to wear the shirt, it's always a special feeling," the Dutchman told the club's official website. "For me as well, I'm really happy to be back. For my experience, I think [the Everton loan] was good. Obviously, I was a little bit unlucky with my injuries.
"I missed a lot of games but to have that experience... it was not an easy season for the team, because we played to avoid relegation, which is not what you want for a club like Everton, but, overall, it was a good experience to be there.
"I think making as many minutes personally, as I can (his aims for new season). I think we need to improve as a team. If you're looking at last season, we have a lot of things to improve. If we work on that now, then we'll see where we end up. We will fight for everything."
United have already lost Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata from their midfield this term, but Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen have both arrived in Manchester.
Ten Hag has also confirmed that he wants his side to sign a new holding midfielder, but the Red Devils are still struggling to convince Frenkie de Jong to leave Barcelona.
Ben Knapton
