Manchester United want Serie A defensive star: The ideal partner for Eric Bailly?

Jose Mourinho tends to win the league title in his second season in charge of clubs, but such has been Manchester City’s domination that the Red Devils will have to try their luck in the Cups instead. While they managed to win two cups last season and have the squad to challenge for the FA Cup, Mourinho will be keen to add a few fresh faces in the summer who can further improve the squad and challenge City next season.

There aren’t many areas where the team needs improvement. Overall, they have a pretty good squad, but Mourinho still needs to figure out how to effectively use Paul Pogba. Antonio Valencia has done well, but he isn’t getting any younger and needs to be replaced soon else United might have a problem in the longer run.

David de Gea’s presence in goal has sort of made the defence look good, but United need another centre-back as Phil Jones and Chris Smalling aren’t as consistent as Eric Bailly. Mourinho’s sides are built on a good defence and if reports are to be believed, they’re interested in Lazio centre-half Stefan De Vrij to add more quality and depth to their back line.

Though he has reached a verbal agreement for a contract extension with Lazio, there could be a low release clause in the deal according to reports.

De Vrij can make the United defence better

The biggest problem he’ll solve is that of inconsistency. Although the Dutchman has had a few injury worries in the last couple of years, he is a top defender when fit. An underrated name in the Serie A, he has often put in top performance for the side despite his relatively young age.

At 26, he is yet to hit the peaks years as a centre-back and that is why he could be a brilliant long-term acquisition for Manchester United.

Since joining Lazio in 2014, De Vrij has managed to make only 71 appearances. However, this season, he has put his injury troubles behind him and has already made 22 league appearances. A defender who reads the game well, De Vrij has recorded two interceptions per game on an average so far this season.

He is also someone who can play out from the back and has an incredible passing accuracy of 92.5% in the league.

If he signs for the club, it’s pretty likely that he and Bailly will form the centre-half pairing for years to come. Since the departure of Ferdinand and Vidic, United have chopped and changed their defensive options. So it’s about time they get two world-class defenders to play with each other.

Stats via Whoscored