Man Utd eye £92m double deal to strengthen defence

There is no doubt that Manchester United will be in the market for another centre-back this summer.

Last summer we signed Victor Lindelof in hope he would be Eric Bailly’s long-term partner in the centre of our defence.  However, the Swede has failed to settle into life in England and has subsequently only made 11 Premier League starts this season – a number of these due to shortages in defence.

It’s apparent that Jose Mourinho doesn’t see either Phil Jones or Chris Smalling as a long-term solution either, and as a result we have been linked to a number of centre-backs ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

One of these is Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti and the reports simply refuse to go away.  So far the 24-year-old has stalled on a new contract offer from the runaway La Liga leaders amid reports he has a €52 million (£45.5m) buy-out clause in his contract.

Spanish outlet Don Balon are now reporting that we could sign Samuel Umtiti for €60 million (£52.5m) instead this summer.  For a player of his quality and for the club he plays for this would be considered a fine deal for us should we be successful.

The report also goes on to say that we could also land Sevilla centre-back Clement Lenglet for €45 million (£39.5m).  The 22-year-old has been excellent for the Andalusian club this season, notably in their Champions League second round victory against us.

A double deal for €105 million (£92m) for two top players seems like good business but we may have to take these rumours with a pinch of salt.  Jose only needs one more centre-back in his team, unless he believes Eric Bailly’s injuries are too much of a problem.  I am at least confident we’ll land one of these two over the summer.