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Manchester United beat Newcastle United 3-1 on Sunday and find themselves second in the Premier League, and have a six point cushion in the Champions League places, with Chelsea in fifth position.

It’s been a reasonably good season so far for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, even if their title challenge has evaporated in the past few weeks. One area in which Manchester United seem far behind their city rivals is central defence.

Pep Guardiola’s side invested heavily in the summer, despite already having the big money signings of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte. Nathan Ake arrived from Bournemouth and has played just 469 minutes of Premier League football, with injuries partly to blame for the 26-year-old’s wilderness months.

Ruben Dias was a big money signing from Benfica, and has gone on to become one of Guardiola’s most important players.

Manchester United need to hit back, and La Nazione, via Fiorentina.it, believe Nikola Milenkovic could be the man chosen.

It’s stated an ‘upcoming proposal’ is expected from the Red Devils, and the amount could go close to the €35-40m it’s believed the 23-year-old is worth. That figure would likely be higher if the player’s contract didn’t expire in June 2022, and unless a renewal is signed quickly, there’ll be a reasonable chance of a summer transfer.