Manchester United 'line up shock summer move for Luton's Ross Barkley'

Manchester United are reportedly lining up a shock move for Luton Town midfielder Ross Barkley - after he impressed new owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Nice.

The billionaire Ineos chief and the firm's head of sport Sir David Brailsford signed the former England international, 30, for the French club at the beginning of the 2022-23 season.

Ex-Everton and Chelsea man Barkley played regularly for Nice before returning to the Premier League with the newly-promoted Hatters back in August.

He has shone in Luton's midfield for much of the season and played well against United when Erik ten Hag's side won 2-1 at Kenilworth Road last weekend.

Barkley could easily have snatched a point for his team when he hit the crossbar with a stoppage time header.

Now The Sun are claiming that United could sign Barkley cheaply if they suffer relegation at the end of the season.

United do need midfield reinforcements amid uncertainty over the future of their Brazil international Casemiro and the departure of Sofyan Amrabat back to Fiorentina after his loan ends.

The Sun's report says Ratcliffe and Brailsford are big admirers of Barkley, who won 33 England caps between 2013 and 2019, scoring six goals.

He has scored three times and contributed three assists in 20 Premier League outings for Luton this season.

The Hatters are currently 18th in the table but just a point behind Everton with a game in hand.

Although Ratcliffe, whose £1.3billion purchase of a 27.7 per cent stake in United was confirmed last week, is prepared to sanction a large summer spend on new players, cheap options like Barkley would be useful.

That's because United also need reinforcements in other areas such as central defence and up front.

That much was evident on Saturday when they slumped to their 10th league defeat of the season - 2-1 at home to Fulham - to pile pressure back on coach Erik ten Hag.