Manchester United are interested in signing Roma centre-back Kostas Manolas after the defender’s buy-out clause was revealed to be £31million, according to reports in Italy.
https://twitter.com/TransfersLlVE/status/1109545626419769345?s=19
United’s defensive woes have been exposed this season as the team has already shipped 40 goals in just 30 Premier League games in this season leaving them in the fifth spot behind Arsenal, who occupy the last of the Champions League qualification spot.
United have been in a desperate search for a central defender since last year’s Summer transfer window, and have been linked to the likes of Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld and Leicester’s Harry Maguire along with Manolas for over a year.
According to Calciomercato, Manolas has a release clause that allows the player to leave at the end of the season if Champions League qualification is not achieved. The capital club is already off the pace in the race for a place in the Serie-A top-four sitting in fifth place, four points behind AC Milan.
However, United have to finish in the Premier League top-four themselves, if they want to have any chance of signing Manolas, as the 27-year-old will be looking for a Champions League club for himself.
With the host of United defenders including Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo, all being injury and error-prone, only Victor Lindelof has proven to be a reliable centre-half in this tough season for the Red Devils, leaving them in dire need of a better option in the centre of the defence.
In the form of Manolas, Manchester United will be getting an established centre-back, who is at the peak of his career and who also has great experience in the Champions League. Manchester United defence has been in woeful since the departure of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
The young duo of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling were signed by Sir Alex Ferguson to fill in the big boots for the post-Ferguson era, but, unfortunately, both of them failed under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. Signing Manolas can fix this issue and bring back the defensive stability United is looking for.
Man Utd transfers:
Manolas 🇬🇷
Alderweireld 🇧🇪
Rabiot 🇫🇷
Ndombele 🇫🇷
Griezmann 🇫🇷
Icardi 🇦🇷It’s time Man Utd showed power and strength in the window and make a statement that were still here and were still a big power in Europe pic.twitter.com/0brEnv0cXl
— . (@BenMallon8) March 18, 2019
When Jose Mourinho arrived, there was some fresh air at United. It was thought that he would improve United’s defence, and the signings of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof were thought to bring United back to where it belongs but Jose’s third season syndrome crept in and everything went haywire.
On the other hand, Kostas Manolas can be one of the best and cheap options available to United in the transfer window. Manolas has every attribute that one looks in a centre-back, i.e., tall, aerial threat and a good tackler of the ball. The 27-year-old also has a great experience in Champions League football as Roma reached the semi-final of last year’s European competition.
Kostas Manolas is still the most likely CB signing for United this summer due to his 32 million buyout clause making him far cheaper than other candidates such as Koulibaly or De Ligt #MUFC pic.twitter.com/EfVhZhvk2F
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) March 20, 2019
With Ole at the wheel, United are looking to bring back the glory days. However, the Norwegian will not forget to address his side’s defence and the signing of Manolas could provide some ice on the burned wounds.
