Manchester United must beat Chelsea in the race to sign Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini during this summer’s transfer window.
Scalvini is regarded as one of the best young centre-backs in world football and he has already made 41 appearances for Atalanta.
The 19-year-old has also represented Italy on three occasions and looks set to have a bright future ahead, likely with another outfit.
According to Corriere della Serra, Chelsea are front-runners to sign the youngster, who is currently valued at €40 million by Atalanta.
United are also said to be keeping tabs on his progress and in our opinion, the Red Devils must beat the Blues to his signature.
Scalvini would be an excellent long-term signing
The teenager has been a consistent performer for Atalanta this campaign. He has averaged an impressive 1.9 tackles, 1.6 clearances and 1.4 interceptions in Serie A.
He has also won nearly four duels per appearance. Scalvini still needs to improve with his distribution, but has the potential to become an elite centre-back in future.
In our view, he should be seen as a replacement for Harry Maguire, who is likely to leave this summer. The youngster could also be a long-term successor for Raphael Varane.
United will need to be pro-active to land the Italian wonderkid, considering Chelsea are hot on the trail of him. They consider him as a top target at the end of the season.
The Red Devils spent over £220 million last summer and we anticipate a bigger spending spree if a Saudi or Qatari consortium takeover the club in the coming months.
United boss Erik ten Hag will have his sights on landing big-name stars, but the Dutchman should give equal importance to emerging talents with huge potential.
Ten Hag has a wonderful track record of developing youngsters into world-beaters from his time at Ajax. He will have plans of replicating the same policy at United.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com and Sofascore.com
