TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Report

Minnesota United want to acquire Vito Mannone on a permanent basis, and they're prepared to make him the highest-paid goalkeeper in MLS in order to do so.

That's the development first reported by The Athletic's Jeff Rueter on Monday, and subsequently confirmed by MLSsoccer.com:

I’m hearing #MNUFC has made an offer to Vito Mannone which would make him MLS’s highest-paid goalkeeper in 2020, eclipsing Brad Guzan’s wages.



Mannone won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2019 while on loan from Reading. He has interest from clubs in the EFL Championship and Italy. — Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) December 2, 2019

The Italian joined the Loons on a season-long loan from English side Reading FC, and went on to win 2019 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors as he and his teammates earned their first Audi MLS Cup Playoff berth in club history.

Mannone started all 34 of MNUFC's league matches and finished second in MLS in saves with 129, while conceding the third-fewest goals in the Western Conference (43). He posted 11 shutouts and posted a 259-minute shutout streak during the season, finishing with a 1.26 goals-against average.

According to MLS Players Association documents, Atlanta United's Brad Guzan is currently the top earner among MLS 'keepers with 2019 guaranteed compensation of $740,004. Mannone has said his current contract expires at the end of the English season and that he "expects a call from Serie A."