Manchester United certainly don’t lack for central defenders these days. The club currently have Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling on the books, and that doesn’t even bring loanees Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Axel Tuanzebe into the equation, with the youngsters spending last season at Crystal Palace and Aston Villa respectively.
Jose Mourinho’s main problem appears to be that he doesn’t have enough options that he can trust, however. Both Lindelof and Bailly found themselves frozen out as this past season drew to a close, despite being purchased by the Portuguese during this two years at the club. Rojo has been awarded a new contract, despite struggling for form and fitness, and huge doubts remain over English duo Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.
As such, one of Mourinho’s primary focuses this summer appears to have been the purchase of a top quality centre back. Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld has been heavily mentioned of late, but with United baulking at the transfer fee of £75m, it appears as if the club are looking elsewhere.
Sport Witness appear to have the next potential target, citing a report in German outlet Bild. The report states that the former Manchester City defender Jerome Boateng could leave Bayern Munich this summer if the fee is right, which has been suggested to be around the €50/60m mark. The lower end of that fee would equate to around £44m, roughly £30m less than United were quoted for Alderweireld, and arguably, Boateng represents a superior option.
United may need to convince the player’s other half Sherin Senler, mother of his twins, who was reportedly less-than keen on Manchester during Boateng’s stay at City. Perhaps the offer of a bumper contract from United could help to convince Boateng and his family to relocate back to the North West of England.
