Having seemingly missed out on Axel Disasi to rivals Chelsea, United could be set to find a perfect alternative…
Life atManchester Uniteddoes not seem to be getting any easier for former skipper,Harry Maguire, with the struggling Englishman seemingly in need of a fresh start amid his mounting woes at Old Trafford.
Having recently beenstripped of the captaincyby managerErik ten Hag, the 30-year-old – who started justeight Premier League gameslast season – was also on the receiving єɴԀ ofa visible rant from new signing Andre Onanaduring the recent 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in pre-season.
It would appear that the former Leicester City man – who has been thesubject of a £20m offerfrom West Ham United – has fallen way down the defensive pecking order of late, with rumours rife that he could beon his waybefore the September deadline.
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Ifthe £80m signingis to find a new home over the coming weeks, Ten Hag will likely be keen to find a suitable replacement to help bolster his centre-back options ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
Who could replace Maguire at Man United?
The Red Devils had beenheavily linked with a movefor Monaco star, Axel Disasi, in recent months, although asjournalist Fabrizio RomanoɾєⱱєɑłєԀ, despite showing an “interest” in the Frenchman, it would appear that he is on his way to rivals Chelsea on a €45m (£38m) Ԁєɑł.
Amid that potential setback,ɾєρօɾτs in Spainhave indicated in recent days that United are among the clubs to have made an offer for RB Leipzig sensation,Josko Gvardiol, with both Manchester City and Liverpool also keen on signing the exciting 21-year-old.
Although valued at a rather steep €100m (£86m), as per the ɾєρօɾτ, the signing of the Croatian international could allow the Old Trafford outfit to forget all about the Stamford Bridge-bound, Disasi.
Should Man United sign Josko Gvardiol?
A player currently “at the beginning of something very special” in his career – according to talent scout Jacek Kulig – Gvardiol could prove to be a dream fit for Ten Hag due to his ability to feature as a natural, left-sided defєɴԀer, unlike Disasi, with the former Ajax boss having previouslyoutlined his preferenceto have a left-footer in that role.
With Lisandro Martinez currently the only other left-footed option at the heart of the defence – excluding usual full-back Luke Shaw – it would make sense to bring Gvardiol into the fold to provide further competition and cover, with Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane to be deployed on the opposite side.
The Leipzig rock’s quality on the ball would make him a particularly astute option for United as the youngster regularly looks to play out from the back, notablyranking in the top 1%among his European peers for attempted passes, as well as in the top 4% for successful take-ons.
Disasi, by contrast,ranks in just the top 46%and the top 7% for those same two metrics, respectively, thus indicating that Gvardiol would be a worthy alternative in the search to find a replacement for Maguire.
Also able to offer the benefit of his ability to feature at left-back, the versatile, Zagreb native also showcased his defensive class in the Bundesliga last term after averaging1.9 tackles and interceptionsper game, with Disasi only just ahead afteraveraging 2.3 in that regardin Ligue 1 – as both men performed better than Maguire (1.3 tackles and interceptionsper game in 2022/23).
Those similarities between the pair with regard to their ball-playing and ball-winning quality would suggest that even if United are forced to watch Disasi head to west London, they could forget all about the former Reims ace by snapping up a younger option, like Gvardiol, instead.
