With the summer transfer window set to officially open, it is no secret that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be looking to significantly bolster his side by bringing in players to add to the at times concerning squad depth, to have a realistic chance at challenging for major titles in the coming season. Here’s a round-up of how it translates in terms of positions and players that United are expected to be involved with heavily.
In a recent Youtube interview with Mark Goldbridge from The United Stand channel, German football journalist Christian Falk of Sport Bild reported that United expect to be in the market looking to secure three major signings at the moment and noted that efforts to get a centre-back reinforcement are imminent. Whether United set their eyes on another high profile defender to partner the captain Harry Maguire with the likes of Napoli’s Koulibaly being a widely sought after target this summer, with PL Champions Liverpool looking to bid on the Senegalese defender. But because of his hefty price tag, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly being interested looking for a center-back, preferably left-footed one it will be interesting to observe ahead from this point just how high Ole’s need for a center-back is on his transfer list.
While Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe have been putting in the standard of performance that is expected from a Manchester United center-back every time they have put on the shirt, they have been seen as highly unreliable because of their high injury-prone status which has been the reason for the need of a new center-back from the red’s boss. Gabriel from Lille is heavily linked with the Reds and it seems that a deal worth £27m initial fee with add-ons expected to rise to £36m is bound to happen according to Fabrizio Romano.
United’s transfer business doesn’t seem to have any intention of stopping at the buck of a new center-back and Jadon Sancho as In terms of midfield, a lot of the creative burden rests solely on two players in the current Man United set up, and Ole would very much prefer to have another capable creative option to be more comfortable while rotating his team, considering United are set to be competing in Europe and will have a considerable amount of games. United certainly have their eyes on Aston Villa attacking midfielder Jack Grealish, who has been at the top end of Solskjaer’s transfer targets for two consecutive transfer windows now. With Aston Villa having ensured survival in the Premier League for next season, they will be looking to cash out as much as they can on their star but with Grealish himself admitting to being leaving Villa for the new season, his boyhood club won’t be able to secure the €80m payout they were once demanding for him and they might have to settle for a €50m price for Jack Grealish.
Now, the one player that has been most linked with a move to United for what seems forever at this point, Jadon Sancho. Solskjaer has made his intentions clear about having fierce competition for attacking places in his squad, an ideology originally stemming from the Norwegian’s time as a player at the club under Sir Alex Ferguson, the English teenage star after having two hugely productive seasons in the Bundesliga with seems like the perfect candidate for just that. Sancho, who has made comments suggesting an intention to leave the German outfit has should make life a little easier for Ed Woodward to negotiate a deal with Dortmund. Many news reports have been coming out of Germany recently and the most reliable have been about Manchester United’s approach for french winger Kingsley Coman of Bayern Munich. Manchester United are reported to have made a €40m bid, aiming for Coman as a backup transfer option should the Jadon Sancho deal fall through.
However, this is most likely being judged as a negotiation tactic implemented by Ed Woodward to draw down the asking price of Jadon Sancho from €120m. With Champions League qualification assured and the extra revenue stream along with it, Manchester United continue to be in pole position for Jadon Sancho but they will be leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that they don’t end up overpaying and hence losing out on a good chunk of money in a post COVID world.
Final Thoughts on the Manchester United Transfer Market Scenario:
A centre back, an attacking midfielder to provide relief to Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba running the attacking side of the midfield and a marquee player signing in the form of Jadon Sancho continue to be the last 3 pieces of the jigsaw which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer demands to achieve success as a Manchester United manager.
However Manchester United’s FPP status currently sits at 142 million and with Jadon Sancho already being the priority for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer above anything else, he might have to choose between having a nifty center back replacement for Maguire-Lindelof and rolling the dice with the Andreas Pereria and Jesse Lingard for backups in midfield OR going for a talented attacking midfielder like Jack Grealish but risking his defense being without any solid first team backup defenders should the potent partnership of Harry Maguire-Victor Lindelof be disrupted.
We hope for swift operations in the window with the Board and Ed Woodward fairly backing Ole in his pursuit for what seem to be important steps towards moving the club back to its former glory.
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