Manchester United are set to go head-to-head with Barcelona for the services of Roma’s director of football Monchi, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Italian publication suggests that the 49-year-old Spaniard has fallen out of favour with his current club’s fans after his summer of transfer dealings, which included the sales of Alisson to Liverpool and Kevin Strootman to Marseille.

Monchi – a former goalkeeper – has only been in a position in Rome for 18 months after leaving Sevilla, where he became known for pulling off remarkable transfer deals including the signings of Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitic.