Manchester United have spent a large chunk of this summer looking to strengthen their defence, with mixed results so far. Diogo Dalot has been brought in from FC Porto to help to provide coder and an alternative at right back, which is certainly needed with Matteo Darmian widely believed to be heading back to Italy this summer. Surprisingly, Jose Mourinho appears to have abandoned any move for a left back, and is seemingly satisfied to keep Ashley Young and Luke Shaw as his options, which seems less-than wise, given the former’s age and the latter’s consistent issues with fitness and application.
The Sun are reporting that United might even be looking at bringing in another left back on top of Dalot, due to the 19-year old’s inexperience at the top level. That would make sense, but the report states that one option that might be off the table is France international Benjamin Pavard. The VfB Stuttgart right back has been told that he will not be sold this summer by the Bundesliga club, and after watching Pavard’s sensational curling effort against Argentina, there’s a chance that the 22-year old’s asking price has skyrocketed in recent days.
This shouldn’t cause United much of an issue, if any. Purchasing players of Dalot’s age is always a risk, but the club’s extensive scouting of the Portuguese must surely have taken his suitability for English football into account, and with Antonio Valencia expected to start the season at right back, there’s little pressure on the player to perform straight away. Not only that, but no decision has been made on the future of Timothy Fosu-Mensah, and the Dutchman has proven to be a reliable asset in the role in previous years. As such, it’s not like United do not have options already at their disposal.
