Manchester United’s Need For A New Central Defender Is Obvious

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Manchester United’s Need For A New Central Defender Is Obvious

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have had a familiar feeling of unease as he trudged down the Old Trafford tunnel after witnessing his side’s limp 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.

Once again it was impossible to ignore the alarming weakness at the heart of his defence with the struggling Victor Lindelof.

Over the course of 90 minutes Lindelof’s performance showed just why United desperately need to sign a new central defender in the next two weeks.

Lindelof was involved in all three of the goals Palace scored to hand United a horribly depressing defeat on the opening day of their season.

For the first, Lindelof was unable to stop Jeffery Schlupp’s whipping in a cross for Andros Townsend to give Palace the lead, and for the second he unwittingly let the ball brush his hand, which saw Palace awarded a penalty.

But it was probably his role in Palace’s decisive third goal that most highlighted his weaknesses as Wilfried Zaha was able to keep him at bay before outpacing him and getting off a well struck shot past David De Gea.

The Swede is a good player, the owner of 34 international caps and over 100 appearances for United, but since his arrival at Old Trafford in 2017 he has never truly looked like a title-winning defender

Over the last 25 years United know what they look like after being spoilt with Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Jaap Stam, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

If United want to challenge for the Premier League title again, and progress in the Champions League, they need an upgrade on Lindelof.

Too often opposition strikers have been able to bully the Swede with their strength or expose his lack of pace with a burst of their own.

United now need a central defender with more presence, pace and athleticism, who can’t be brushed aside so easily.

The options to replace Lindelof within the current United squad are limited to the hugely talented, but erratic Eric Bailly and the inexperienced young pair of Axel Tuanzebe and Teden Mengi.

United have lost faith in both Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo, and have been actively looking to sell them in this transfer window.

Meanwhile United are also looking to raise further funds by negotiating the sale of Chris Smalling to Roma, however, if they are unable to agree a fee they could still welcome him back in to their squad.

There is an acknowledgement within the club that another central defender would strengthen their options, but to the frustration of the club’s fan base, they do not appear to be prioritising signing one at the moment.

The focus remains on finally bringing to an end the long-running saga of their pursuit of Jadon Sancho, and a left-back.

United retain a strong interest in Red Bull Leipzig’s French central defender Dayot Upamecano, but the feeling within the club is he would be more attainable next summer, and they are prepared to wait.

But the events of this weekend have made it glaringly obvious United need to act a lot sooner.