Manchester United strengthened their squad with the signing of Bruno Fernandes last month, but they’ll need to invest an awful lot more money in the summer to close the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City.

Crucially, they’ll need to spend big on the right players. An obscene amount of cash has been wasted during the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.

Those in charge of transfers at Old Trafford already have their eye on a group of high-profile players ahead of the summer window, according to various reports, one of which is Borussia Dortmund’s English winger Jadon Sancho.

Sky Sports confirmed on Wednesday that Sancho, 19, will leave his current employers at the end of the season following months of speculation and that United are keen to sign him.

But Sancho is far from the only big-name star on United’s shortlist.

It’s been widely reported in recent months that the Red Devils are interested in Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish and Leicester City’s James Maddison.

But The Sun are now reporting that Man Utd are planning a £160 million deal for *both* Premier League stars.

They claim that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is behind the plan and say the Norwegian coach hopes the pair’s friendship will improve the chances of both players agreeing to sign.

Maddison and Grealish, along with Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell, travelled to Dubai together during the current international break.

If United end up signing just one of the attacking midfielders it would a major coup, let alone the pair of them. That would be a potential game-changer.

Grealish has scored nine goals and registered seven assists for Villa this season, while Maddison has nine goals and three assists to his name.

Whether Solskjaer could find a way to accommodate Grealish, Maddison, Fred, Scott McTominay and Fernandes into the same midfield is questionable.

But one man not expected to be at Old Trafford next season is Paul Pogba, who is reportedly desperate to leave the club at the end of the season.

Maddison, The Sun add, would cost United a fee in the region of £90 million. The Red Devils would also pay the England international a salary of £200,000 a week - twice as much as Leicester can afford to pay him.

Grealish, on the other hand, would cost £70 million and reports over the weekend claimed the 24-year-old has already agreed personal terms with the Premier League giants.