James Ducker of The Times claims that Manchester United are weighing up an ambitious move for Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus, considered to be one of the hottest properties in Europe, as part of deal that could see frustrated Japanese star Shinji Kagawa returning back to the German club.

The summer transfer window didn’t go according to plans for new manager David Moyes and the former Everton manager is keen to amend that in the next transfer window. Goal scoring from midfield has been one of the problems for United this season, and as per the report, the Champions are keen to add a player who can solve that problem and therefore have identified Reus as a potential target.

The 24-year-old scored 19 times for Dortmund last season and this season he has netted 8 times already. The German star has three-and-a-half-year remaining on his contract and has a release clause of €35m/£29m. However, his release clause is only active after 2015 and as per reports from German newspaper Bild, Dortmund are willing to improve his salary from €4.5m/year to €6m/year to fend off interests from other clubs.

Ducker claims that United have been “busy scouting Reus and are thought to be exploring the feasibility of taking the player to Old Trafford as a cash plus player swap deal involving Kagawa”.

Kagawa, who joined the Red Devils for a reported fee of £17.6m last summer, has had a frustrating time since his move. While his debut season was largely disrupted by injuries, this campaign he has been given a peripheral role by Moyes. With Wayne Rooney playing a pivotal role in the no 10 position, Kagawa has got little opportunity to operate in his preferred position and had to content with playing out wide on the left flanks.

The diminutive Japanese has voiced his frustration already while Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp admitted over the summer that he had enquired whether Kagawa would be eager to return to the Westfalenstadion. It is no open secret that Dortmund would be more than happy to get back Kagawa, but certainly not at the cost of losing one of their precious diamonds, Reus.

Further if the reports from Germany are to be believed no other clubs can activate his release clause before 2015. We can trust reports from The Times, no doubt, and chances are there too that Kagawa could leave in January as well, but it has to be understood that to conclude a deal in such type of transfers, Reus would have to agree as well for the move. In a world cup year, he will prefer to stay at his comfort zone and impress his national team boss than moving elsewhere.