Report: Manchester United make official bid for midfield wonderkid

Manchester United have begun their January transfer business by lodging an official bid for highly-rated Dundee United youngster Ryan Gauld, according to a report in the Daily Mirror.

Gauld, who is a star player for the Terrors at just 17 years old, was previewed recently in the first of the Busby Babe's January transfer window previews. You can read our more detailed report on him here.

But it seems now that United have made their bid official - it's rumoured to be £3m, plus three pre-season friendlies, although the report also says that Dundee United will hope for £6m.

Hopefully we're just going through some standard negotiation here - the errors made in summer were frustrating enough, but understandable when you're spending so much money. It would be highly irritating to lose out on someone due to quibbling over what, to a club of United's size, is small change. We don't want another Aaron Ramsey situation, and Real Madrid and Liverpool are both rumoured to be in the hunt for Gauld too.