Manchester United have submitted a £30m bid for Nicolo Barella from Cagliari, according to Corriere dello Sport.

The Premier League giants are said to have stepped forward with an offer of £30million for the 21-year-old midfielder towards the end of last week.

The Italy international has been touted as a successor to Cesc Fabregas at Chelsea in the past few weeks, while Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have also been credited with an interest.

With interest growing rapidly in the highly-rated youngster, the aforementioned report suggests that the Red Devils made an approach but were knocked back by the Italians.

United’s bid is described as their first and last for the playmaker, with other January targets already being lined up for the rest of this month.

Barella recently admitted that he would join the English Premier League over a Serie A rival.