Manchester United, 3 Serie A defenders linked to United profiled
Following Manchester United’s Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona, it is fairly clear to see that they need upgrades in a number of positions over the summer. It has been widely reported that there will be a clear out of the perceived deadwood at the club, with a number of first team players to be sold to raise funds for a summer revolution in the red half of Manchester.
Perhaps the position that they most need to strengthen is at centre-back. While Lindelof has impressed in the latter part of the season under Solskjaer, the likes of Smalling, Jones and Bailly are deemed by most fans to not be good enough for United. Having seen the way in which Virgil Van Dijk has transformed the Liverpool defence, United are expected to spend big in order to revitalise their ailing defence, and we have taken a look at three Serie A targets that are looking at.
Kalidou Koulibaly
Napoli’s Senegalese powerhouse has emerged in the last couple of seasons as United’s main defensive target. He is an incredibly strong and powerful centre half, who often dominates opposition attackers, but for such a big unit, he is incredibly composed on the ball. He developed a lot working under Maurizio Sarri, and is often viewed as one of the elite defenders in Europe, and his defensive attributes would suit the Premier League perfectly. But Napoli value their defensive linchpin very highly, with reports suggesting they won’t settle for anything less than €110m.
Milan Skriniar
United’s second possible target to sure up their defence is 24 year old Inter defender Milan Skriniar. Inter signed the Slovakian from Sampdoria for €20m 2 years ago, and he has gone on to become a leader at the heart of defence for the Nerazzuri, featuring in every single minute of Inter’s Serie A campaign last season. He is renowned for being strong in the tackle and at 6’2 is also very useful in the air. However similarly to Koulibaly, his purchase will not come cheap, with Inter valuing him around €80m, but with characteristics similar to United legend Nemanja Vidic, he could grow to become the heartbeat of United’s defence for years to come.
Kostas Manolas
Roma seem to be resigned to losing their Greek centre back this summer. Manolas has been by far Roma’s best defender in recent years, but has a €35m release clause in his contract that becomes active in the summer. The 27 year old defender has been with Roma since 2014 and has developed into a top class centre back in that time. He has impressive pace and that coupled with his physical strength and his good reading of the game would make him the perfect budget option for Manchester United in the summer
