Manchester United’s pre-season has begun, but the attention is still on the World Cup. Paul Pogba remains the only Manchester United player in the race for the greatest trophy, as France will face Croatia in the replay of 1998 World Cup semifinal. However, in Manchester things are still not much interesting. The fans feel that the club should still do plenty of things in the transfer market and new arrivals are expected.
One of the positions where there is the biggest urge of signing new players is centre-back. Man United often looked shaky in that department, mostly due to Eric Bailly missing a big chunk of the season and Victor Lindelof not being at the needed levels for what Jose Mourinho expects. Add to that performances of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones from last spring and you will be reminded why United need at least one centre-back to bring in.
Here are some centre-backs Manchester United should look at this summer.
Dayot Upamecano
First of all, why not? The Frenchman is 19 years old and plays for RB Leipzig. Sure, it would be a bit tough to get him from such a good environment for young players, but United would be looking to bring in someone for the future. He is a very talented player who would not be starting for Mourinho’s team, but would get enough time to learn alongside Eric Bailly.
His physicality and technical skills are especially good. Not every player needs to shine straight away. After all, centre-back position is all about learning the trade. There could possibly be some mistakes, but Upamecano looks like a player with great future and getting him before he gets all the best clubs looking to sign him could be wise.
Mats Hummels
Hear me out. Yes, that is Mats Hummels of Bayern Munich. And yes, it would be incredibly hard to get him to leave Germany. But except for that, there is no real reason why United should not try and do this. It would be a huge statement from United towards their rivals before the new season starts and it would be an incredible boost for Man United’s back line. Imagine Hummels playing in front of David De Gea.
And then there is that thing that Hummels is 29 and could be possibly persuaded in change of scenery. He would need a huge pay rise to leave Bayern, but sometimes you just have to go big.
Stefan Savic
Another Atletico Madrid being mentioned here, after we recently talked about Jose Gimenez and Lucas Hernandez. But the Montenegrin would be the easiest one to get and United would still get a high quality player. Savic is a very underrated centre-back who has been doing very well at a defensively sound Atletico. He is also 27, reaching his peak years and has also played for Man City previously.
That would be a big “thing” if he was to actually come, but United could give him the time City did not when he was there. He improved heavily since leaving Etihad. And just imagine how amazing it would be for United to steal the title from City with their former player in the ranks.
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