Why This Former Chelsea Target Would Be A Great Fit For Manchester United

There has been a lot of speculation regarding who may go where during this opening of the winter transfer market, as every single team across Europe (and probably the world) is currently looking for some reinforcements to continue to build their ranks or to make up for the departures and injuries of some guys.

The second leg of the season has already started and while some teams have got off to a great start of it, they’re still far behind to reach the summit and are going to need to have a practically perfect second half if they intend to reach the glory at the end of the season.

So, in order to do that, you obviously need a complete squad among all the sectors of the field, as you cannot win a tournament just by preventing goals or scoring them, especially in this modern era of football where opposing bosses make adjustments almost on a daily basis to prevent their sides from being predictable.

And, when you’ve got a team like Manchester United that’s so loaded and overpowered on the offensive front of the pitch, you know that the weak link of the squad (if there’s actually a weak link) has to be either on the sidelines or the bottom half of the field.

Having said that, it’s only natural to think that Jose Mourinho is looking to bring some reinforcements to shield his team’s defence, as those defensive struggles were the main reason why Manchester United wasn’t able to continue their strong start of the season, although they’ve bounced back over the course of the past two months, putting together a very nice run.

A guy that’s been constantly linked with several big teams across Europe over the course of the past few seasons, including the Red Devils, is AS Roma’s centre-back Kostas Manolas, a 25-year-old from Greece that could be a very nice addition for the Manchester squad.

Manolas, who was a summer target for Chelsea, has been playing alongside another United target, Antonio Rudiger, but it’s very unlikely that the Italian side let the talented German walk away from the club, for the time being, so making a run at his partner would be a smart move for the Red Devils during this transfer window.

The Greek could be a nice addition in Mourinho’s ranks, as he’s been a key piece of AS Roma’s defence since his arrival from Olympiakos a couple of seasons ago, and he has managed to get over 20 appearances (all starts) for Roma among all competitions so far this season, owning a 7.39 player rating according to whoscored.com.

Besides, Manchester United could be really shorthanded on defence, as Bailly hasn’t been able to contribute on the pitch since his injury and you know Mourinho’s done with Chris Smalling, so pairing Manolas with Jones on defence could be a nice solution for the Red Devils, while either Rojo or Blind take the left back spot if Matteo Darmian winds up leaving the club.