Manchester United have added Sporting Lisbon star Goncalo Inacio to their centre-back shortlist, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Red Devils were keen on signing a marquee centre-back last summer, but their plans were hampered after Harry Maguire opted to stay.
With their tight Financial Fair Play situation, United are now likely to wait until the end of the season before purchasing another top central defender.
The club are already monitoring Antonio Silva, Edmond Tapsoba and Jean-Clair Todibo and Romano reports that Inacio is also being closely tracked.
Inacio would be a good acquisition
The Portugal international has been linked with United over the past 18 months and it does not come as a surprise that they are monitoring his progress.
Inacio is a left-footed centre-back by trade. He is a strong ball-playing defender and has a passing accuracy of nearly 90 per cent this season.
The 22-year-old has also impressed with his tackling and ability to clear his lines. He has made six ball recoveries per league appearance this term.
In our view, he would be a good acquisition for United. The Portuguese could provide solid competition to Lisandro Martinez for the left centre-back role.
United currently have Raphael Varane and Martinez as the preferred centre-back pairing, but both have been injury prone during their time at the club.
Varane has been sidelined with several minor injuries. Martinez recently suffered a recurrence of his foot injury which may keep him out for three months.
United manager Erik ten Hag needs more quality depth in the squad. Inacio would be a fine buy but won’t come on the cheap due to his release clause.
The young centre-back signed a new long-term contract with Sporting in August this year which increased his buy-out clause from €45 million to €60m.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
