Another day, another centre back for Manchester United to be linked with. Having sealed the transfers of FC Porto’s Diogo Dalot and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred already this summer, Jose Mourinho appears to have prioritised a centre back as his next target, despite having five senior central defenders on the club’s books already. That doesn’t even bring academy products Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Axel Tuanzebe into the equation, with the two spending last season on loan at Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Having been linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld earlier this summer before the club’s chairman Daniel Levy hiked up the asking price, and with rumours swirling of interest in Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng, Teamtalk have linked United with a far cheaper option. Citing a report in Spanish outlet AS, their suggestion is that the club could take advantage of Diego Godin’s contract situation at Atletico Madrid to land the Uruguayan for as little as €18m. The player, currently on World Cup duty in Russia with his country who topped Group A with after a 3-0 win, is in discussions with Atletico over a new deal, but due to a clause in his contract, could be available for a budget fee.
Given the prices that have been quoted for Alderweireld (£75m) and Boateng (€50/60m), Godin would certainly represent a far cheaper option. The Uruguayan has been in the Spanish capital for eight years, making 350 appearances in that time, so the key factor appears to be if Godin would fancy a move to England. It would be a new culture, language and club at 32 years of age, but the player would surely be well recompensed.
From United’s perspective, Godin could certainly help to bring some solidity and experience to a back line that lacks both, and the low transfer fee would certainly be welcome to a club that are used to paying over the odds.
