Manchester United have bid €30m for Athletic Bilbao's Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera, according to Cadena COPE.

You may recognise that source as the one that was previously a bearer of bad news in breaking the story that Thiago Alcantara had chosen to go to Bayern Munich, so they do have a track record of being reliable in this window.

Herrera is perhaps one of the players we're most in need of, an excellent passer capable of dictating a game but one who can also play deeper. He'd be very much in the mould of Cesc Fabregas and Thiago, who we've tried and failed to sign so far this window.

The station also say, however, that Bilbao will not negotiate unless the €36m release clause is met. This isn't too much of a leap, so if United have made this bid, it seems that paying the extra is very likely to happen with time running out.