Manchester United’s efforts to sign Bruno Fernandes have hit an impasse with the club refusing to meet Sporting Lisbon’s €80 million (£68m) valuation of the Portugal attacking midfielder.

Although United remain keen to sign Fernandes and the player is known to be desperate to secure a move to Old Trafford this month, the Manchester giants are adamant they will not be held to ransom.

United have offered around £39m (€45m) plus a series of add ons contingent on their future success but the two clubs remain about £20m apart in their valuations of the 25-year-old.

With injuries to Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba heightening the need for midfield reinforcements, there is still a will on United’s part to do a deal and talks are expected to resume with Sporting over the next couple of days.

But United - who face Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday - are conscious that if they met Sporting’s enormous demands they would only be creating problems for themselves down the line with the prices of other targets only likely to be inflated.