Manchester United should keep their focus on Tottenham Hotspur defender, Toby Alderweireld, but must try to sign him as a partner for Eric Bailly at the back.
What’s the story?
Bailly has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford with The Mirror reporting that North London clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal might be interested in the Ivorian. Bailly has been watching on from the bench ever since United’s poor performance at Brighton & Hove Albion on the second weekend of Premier League action, which saw the Red Devils slump to a 3-2 defeat.
Manager José Mourinho has since opted for a Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelöf combination that saw them win at Burnley and Watford in consecutive matches. The rumours of Bailly being linked with a move to Spurs have suggested that a trade could happen between United and Tottenham, with Mourinho getting his summer target in Alderweireld.
United did pull the plug on a possible deal to be offered to the Belgian international, but if Bailly does decide to pack his bags in the near future, then Ed Woodward and Mourinho could be thinking of making Alderweireld a proper bid.
Partner Bailly and Alderwiereld
Manchester United shouldn’t see this situation as a sell one, buy one kind of predicament, but rather as an opportunity to do what they didn’t do in the summer – an opportunity to fully offer Alderweireld a deal to join United, but not letting Bailly leave in the process.
Bailly is still regarded as the best defender in the United squad above Smalling, Lindelöf and Phil Jones. The Ivorian has kept 20 clean sheets since he joined back in 2016. Instead of selling him, Mourinho should rather let Jones or Smalling go, and bring in Alderweireld to form a partnership with Bailly that could develop into a very successful one.
United have struggled in defence a couple of times so far this season and a new centre back should be one of their main focusses in the next two transfer windows. Linking up Alderweireld with Bailly would eliminate the type of performance that United fans witnessed a few weeks ago when a dominant second half performance by Spurs led to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat for Mourinho’s men.
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