The Red Devils are really in a desperate need of a center-back and have so far been linked a several of them in the past couple of weeks. They first were linked to Barcelona’s January recruit Yerry Mina but couldn’t come to terms with the Spanish giants after agreeing personal terms with the Colombian international and as result the Toffee’s snapped him up instead for €30m.
Then Man Utd decided to go for Tottenham Hotspurs Toby Alderweireld the Belgian international entered into his final year of contract and the Red Devils probably thought they could get him for a decent amount but Daniel Levy has earned the reputation of a tough negotiator and his staggering demand of £60m for the 29 year old put a halt on their efforts of signing him.
The Red Devils once again decided to raid a Premier League club and this time it was Leicester City for their 25 year old defender Harry Maguire, The England International had a great World Cup campaign this summer as he helped his side’s cause in reaching their first semifinal after 28 years and Leicester are probably in a great position to demand a hefty price to let go of their star performer and as result have set his price up to £75m.
Bayern Munchen defender Jerome Boateng was surprising put on the transfer market by the Bundesliga giants and Jose Mourinho taught this could be a great opportunity to bring in a world class defender but the Germany international put all the advances from the Red Devils to rest as he clearly rejected a chance to go back to England and play for Manchester United, with no new arrival at the back Jose Mourinho would be gutted as he clearly asked for a center back and Ed Woodward failed to sign any.
Manchester United have only made three signing this summer, Brazilian International Fred from Shaktar Donetsk for €60m, Fullback Diogo Dalot from Portuguese club FC Porto for reported sum of €22m and a surprise signing of 35 year old Stoke City keeper Lee Grant for £1.5m as a 3rd choice keeper. ESPN pundit Shaka Hislop has backed the Red Devils to complete the transfer of Jerome Boateng from Bayern Munich.
Speaking on ESPN Hislop said “Manchester United need a center back, and they need a strong character a leader at the back, If you look at them and their options to play at the back, they have only a few players whom they can rely upon, They have Smalling, Eric Baily, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones and I believe only Jones is capable of being called as a leader, So they lack somebody who is a natural and can get the best out of others, There is certainly talent there but they lack leadership”
He further added “Boateng is not the player he used to be but he has experience above all and that is what is needed so he can make those feel better around him”
Manchester United have tried their best to sign at least one of the potential shortlisted targets but have failed to even come to terms with any of them so it is highly unlikely that they will go for any of them in the winter transfer market too.
