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Manchester United have received encouragement to get ahead of Barcelona in the race for Racing Santander’s Jorge Salinas. Earlier this week, we relayed news that the Premier League side can snatch the left-back from the Magpies’ clutches. The Red Devils identified him as an alternative to Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall. Two days ago, Sport Witness covered claims from Spain that the 19-year-old only wants to join Barcelona, who are refusing to pay his €16m clause. The La Liga winners will also face intense competition from Manchester United. Manchester United interest backed up Sport report the Spain U19 international had an €8m release clause until June 30th and that has increased to €16m. Barcelona didn’t activate his earlier clause and don’t intend to match the current one. Hansi Flick has Alejandro Balde as first choice left-back and has other options. Despite this, Barca sporting director Deco values Jorge Salinas, who can also operate as a centre-back. Therefore, the Camp Nou side haven’t ruled him out, but the newspaper claims the two clubs are still far apart with their valuations. Manchester United and Atlético Madrid are keen and both are ‘willing to meet the price’ to sign him. However, Jorge Salinas is giving priority to Barca. Director’s admission boost for Manchester United The La Liga winners’ desire is to sign him for a fee less than €16m. However, Racing Santander sporting director Chema Aragón warns that won’t happen and Sport have relayed his comments. Their plan is to hold on to Jorge Salinas and will consider a sale if a suitor matches his release clause. “He has a contract with us, as you know. So, if they don’t bring the release clause, you know what will happen,” he said. “We value the assets we have. We consider them important. For the club, at this time, there is no other option than to try to strengthen the team and not weaken it by losing stars. The reality is that the club that wants him has to come with an offer. “Hopefully he’ll stay. That would be our dream. We’re going to try everything we can to make it happen, just like we did with Gustavo Puerta at Christmas, to do it with both of them. But it’s also true that if significant offers come in, it will be more complicated.” This gives Manchester United an easy route to secure the Spaniard’s services, provided they convince the player and trigger his €16m clause.