As the summer transfer window approaches, it is looking likely that Manchester United will sign a centre-back. No doubt the partnership of Maguire and Lindelöf has been good over the years, but United need someone whom they can rely on for the majority of the season. Both Maguire and Linde on their best days can even tackle Ronaldo and Messi off the field, but on most days either one can turn off in the field, leading to a goal. Even a good performance against Fulham yesterday was marred by the unavailability of Maguire and Lindelof didn’t do that well on the field. Even though United are in the 2nd spot in the league their Goals against section tells a different story. Even 9th placed Arsenal have conceded less than the red side of Manchester!
With some world-class defenders available in the market, we take a look at the prospective members:
David Alaba is one of them. The Austrian has declined to sign a new €200,000 per week deal with Bayern Munich, and since his contract expires in June, he will be able to speak to other clubs as of now. A leading newspaper had earlier claimed that United was leading the race to sign him, which would make sense considering their need for such a primed, world-class player without having to pay another astronomical transfer fee.
But on the other hand, another leading newspaper shunned the news.
‘Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to maintain a squad of balanced earnings as much as possible and the scale required to secure Alaba would be too great.’
Dayot Upamecano of RB Leipzig is another player on whom the Red Devils have turned their attention. An agreement could be agreed in June, according to German transfer specialist Christian Falk, if a club matches Upamecano's €45 million (£40m) release clause, which becomes valid in June. Signing the 23-year-old at that price seemed like a no-brainer for United, who have been chasing the Frenchman since he was 16 years old.
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A media house had claimed that ‘he is no longer a primary target and the Old Trafford side have made clear this is a situation they will not be pursuing.’
So even if we agree to them, who would Manchester United turn their attention to? Pau Torres of Villareal and Ben White of Brighton are being associated, but they are potentially a step down in quality from Alaba and Upamecano.
No doubt a World-Class centre back will get the team up and running and ready for a title challenge. Now it is to see what does United do about this.
