Manchester United are expected to be in the market for a new centre-back when the transfer window opens for the summer.
Last summer’s defensive signing, Victor Lindelof, hasn’t worked out. The Swede made an awful start to his career at Old Trafford and has never recovered. Jose Mourinho has handed the former Benfica man only 10 Premier League starts this season and some of those were due to injuries.
Chris Smalling and Phil Jones don’t appear to be in the boss’ long-term plans either so it is very likely Jose will find a new partner for Eric Bailly before the start of next season.
A number of names have already been mentioned – most strongly are Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti and Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane.
However, the Mirror are reporting that we could be in for a proven Premier League centre-back instead as they are suggesting we could make a £35 million move for Leicester City’s Harry Maguire.
One has to wonder if a £35 million bid would really do the job considering Leicester have refused to sell Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City several times in the past and that Harry Maguire has been one of the breakout stars in the Premier League this season, leading to the likelihood that he will be part of Gareth Southgate’s England side at this summer’s World Cup.
Chris Smalling has made 24 Premier League appearances for us this season (23 starts) but we wouldn’t expect him to be a regular next season should we be successful in signing Maguire, Samuel Umtiti or Raphael Varane.
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