It might sound like we are repeating ourselves, and we technically are, but Manchester United are looking for a new centre-back on the transfer market.
Last year’s defensive record at Old Trafford was the worst in recent years, and this is something new manager Erik ten Hag wants to address sooner rather than later.
This will give him time to embed the new signing(s) during preseason so they can hit the ground running at Manchester United for next season.
That’s why we are seeing many rumours linking the Red Devils with players such as Alessandro Bastoni, even if the player’s agent has made it clear his client would be staying at Inter.
It’s said Erik ten Hag’s side have been ‘asking for information on the Cremonese boy’, because Raphaël Varane has fitness issues, and both Victor Lindelöf and Harry Maguire ‘are not reliable’.
However, to get Bastoni, ‘it takes €60m’, described as a figure that ‘scares Conte’s Tottenham’, who could also do with the Inter star.
Bastoni is ‘the prototype of the modern defender, one of the most suitable for a type of European football’ Ten Hag likes to play.
‘Perfect for the three-man defence as well as being excellent and flexible in the four-man defence’, there are reasons why Manchester United are after him.
Whether they get him, especially without Champions League football, however, remains to be seen.
