United board face defence conundrum
AFTER negotiating deals for both Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof in 2016 and 2017 respectively, Ed Woodward would have felt entitled to sleep a little easier.
United scouts had done their due diligence and Jose Mourinho was right behind each transfer. At ‘just’ £60m, too, United appeared to have secured a centre-back partnership to potentially last a decade.
As we all know, it has not quite worked out like that. Bailly is struggling to even make the match day squad these days and has started just 10 games in 2018. His last appearance? Being hauled off after 18 minutes with United 2-0 down to Newcastle.
In contrast, Lindelof is currently enjoying his longest run in the team but readily admits United fans have only seen 50 per cent of what he can really do in a red shirt.
It has meant that Mourinho has come to rely on Chris Smalling as a stabiliser. The 28-year-old started the season out of the starting lineup but is now one of the first names on the team sheet.
With all the chopping and changing at the back, it is hardly a surprise that United have kept just three clean sheets all season. A poor return from a defence packed with internationals.
Mourinho made no secret of his desire to sign another big-money centre-back for the third summer in a row but he already has five defenders on sizable salaries, including Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo.
Will the board really feel any different about signing a sixth in January? Their argument, rightly or wrongly, will be these defenders helped Mourinho keep clean sheets not so long ago so what is the problem now?
Mourinho, of course, has attempted to play a more open game this season and that has left United even more open at the back. “With much more defensive approach you can hide better your weaknesses” was how Mourinho put it earlier this month.
This goes beyond signing one defender and you feel there are deeper issues at play unlike when Liverpool made Virgil van Dijk the most expensive defender in history back in January.
Before van Dijk’s arrival, Liverpool had conceded 28 goals in the Premier League. Since his debut, on January 22, Jurgen Klopp’s side have let in just 14 league goals, keeping 15 clean sheets in the process. That is a magic wand solution – and Klopp knew it.
Liverpool pulled out all the stops to get their man five days before the January transfer window opened. Klopp even flew a medical team to Bournemouth Airport before van Dijk’s signature was confirmed in case Man City gazumped Liverpool with an 11th hour bid.
Having been shamed by those alleged ‘tapping up’ claims just a few months previously, Liverpool backed their manager – just as they did with a move for Alisson last summer.
Let’s make one thing clear: Mourinho has been backed to the tune of £373.5m to date and no other English club would have been willing to go all-in for Alexis Sanchez like United did in January. But the van Dijk deal has created a problem for Mourinho. United have always maintained the money is available for the right kind of defender but the going rate for a worldclass centre-back is only increasing. Particularly when Mourinho’s thirst for a new defender is common knowledge.
Mourinho, though, will feel it is a price worth paying in such an inflated market.
“Virgil van Dijk is the most expensive defender in the history of football – was he better than [Paolo] Maldini, [Giuseppe] Bergomi or [Rio] Ferdinand?” he queried back in January.
“You cannot say that. It is just the way the market is and you pay or you don’t pay. If you pay, obviously you pay a crazy amount but if you don’t you don’t have the player. It is as simple as that, so no criticism at all about what Liverpool did, it is just the way it is.”
United have done business in January before – signing 16 players since the window was introduced in 2002 – but prefer to buy in the summer unless the right opportunity comes along.
That might not happen in January.
If you pay, obviously you pay a crazy amount but if you don’t you don’t have the player Jose Mourinho