David Ornstein has disclosed that Manchester United are swiftly moving towards securing their next midfield acquisition, with the club now in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa.

The Red Devils have already set the stage to finalise a deal for Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos, who is expected to become their first signing of the summer transfer window.

This development follows the collapse of a long-anticipated move for Atalanta’s Brazilian midfielder Ederson last week, after Manchester United raised concerns regarding the medical aspects of the proposed transfer.

After previously stating that the Ederson deal was “100 per cent confirmed in June,” transfer expert Fabrizio Romano clarified the reason behind the failed move: “It’s been a crazy 24 hours. The Brazilian midfielder from Atalanta was expected to join Manchester United, but I told you over the last seven to ten days, let’s wait for the medical check, let’s wait for the medical test, let’s wait for the next steps.”

Romano continued, “Now we can say that Atalanta received a formal communication about the Ederson deal being off. Ederson to Manchester United is not happening.”

He elaborated further, “The communication has reached Atalanta today. The message coming from Atalanta is very clear. Atalanta’s message is: ‘We got a communication that the deal for Ederson is off, it is not happening.’”

“But Atalanta insist, according to them, according to the club, that Ederson is 100% fit, ready to play football, as he did with Brazil at the World Cup.”

“On the other side, Manchester United want to do extra checks on the player and they decided, after several sessions of medical tests, that Ederson has to be called back. So Ederson is not happening.”

“Atalanta are more than happy to welcome back Ederson and have the player at the club. He has one year left on his contract.”

Manchester United are targeting two or three new midfielders this summer, along with a full-back and a left-winger as a minimum. Following the collapse of the Ederson deal, Ornstein from The Athletic has now provided an update on their next likely signing.

According to Ornstein, Manchester United ‘are in advanced talks’ to secure the services of Belgian international Youri Tielemans from Premier League rivals Aston Villa, who finished just one place below United in the league standings last season.

Reports suggest that Manchester United ‘have identified an opportunity to acquire the 29-year-old midfielder and, despite interest from other clubs, he prefers a move to Old Trafford.’

Ornstein added: ‘Contact is ongoing between all parties to finalise the transfer, which comes as something of a surprise but would add much-needed quality and experience to an area of the field United have been prioritising this summer.’

Meanwhile, Daily Telegraph journalist John Percy has revealed that Tielemans has a release clause that enables him to join Manchester United for £35 million.

Percy wrote that Youri Tielemans’ £35 million release clause makes his transfer to Manchester United highly probable, adding that Aston Villa are in the final stages of completing a club-record signing of Freiburg midfielder Johan Manzambi.