On Friday, Christian Eriksen was unveiled as Manchester United’s second signing of the summer. The first had been left-back Tyrell Malacia, and their attention will soon turn back to their defence.
Indeed, Lisandro Martinez is on his way to Manchester to complete a transfer from Ajax. It will reunite him with manager Erik ten Hag.
Martinez will bolster a department that has come under scrutiny in recent months. Harry Maguire has been in the spotlight, but will continue as captain, while the likes of Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones may depart.
Hence, Ten Hag should be able to call upon Maguire, Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof as centre-back options in 2022-23. But it is now emerging that he may be targeting a fifth piece of the puzzle.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Manchester United may make an attempt to sign Felix Uduokhai after wrapping up the Martinez deal.
The Italian source claims United are reflecting on the idea of adding Uduokhai to their squad. He currently plays for Augsburg in the Bundesliga.
United are said to value the 24-year-old, whose contract with Augsburg only has two years left to run on it. He made 13 appearances for them in the German top-flight last season, during which he had a few injury issues.
As a left-footed centre-back, Uduokhai would be of a similar profile to Martinez. United do not have anyone else of that description, though, so perhaps he would be cover for the Argentine.
Then, Maguire, Varane and Lindelof could compete for a place on the right-hand side of the centre-back pairing.
Man Utd should have priorities other than Felix Uduokhai
Although Uduokhai would be an interesting signing, centre-back is not the next position United should be looking to make a signing in after Martinez’s arrival.
Instead, they ought to look at a backup goalkeeper, a central midfielder or even a centre-forward.
Even though their defence came under scrutiny last season, it is about to be reinforced. Therefore, to ensure balance across the pitch, Man Utd need to think about what their most pressing areas of need are.
Perhaps they could come back to Uduokhai once other areas have been addressed. His addition would be an intriguing one after his lack of action last season, but the former Wolfsburg man remains highly rated by some.
For now, it does not seem there is anything advanced with Man Utd. But he could be someone to keep an
