Manchester United have a big summer ahead, and are reportedly eyeing a move for Tottenham Hotspur centre-half Toby Alderweireld.
The Belgian has a release clause of £25 million in his current contract that runs until 2020, which was triggered by Tottenham in December last year.
And according to the Guardian, Manchester United are keen to splash out £25 million, which in modern day football amounts next to nothing.
Spurs were willing to take the chance and keep the player for an additional year as his deal was set to run out in the summer of 2019.
Alderweireld is the marquee centre-back Manchester United need
The impact of a reliable centre-half who can also play out from the back or ping an accurate diagonal when required in the modern-day game is simply big.
It doesn’t matter how passive your tactics are, if the team doesn’t have someone who is comfortable on the ball, teams tend to press you and make the most of the weakness.
Manchester United under José Mourinho were infamous not only for their defensive weakness, but also for not having a ball-playing centre-half.
At the moment, it seems that Victor Lindelof has improved and has managed to hold his own to help United exceed expectations under interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but the sooner the club sign a new centre-half, the better.
And Alderweireld has shown for several years that he is a quality defender who can do everything you ask of him. The Belgian is strong technically, and is a good player under pressure and rarely makes mistakes.
Alderweireld has managed an impressive pass accuracy of 88.5%, and has made at least five clearances on an average, which shows he is often at the right place at the right time to intervene.
At 30, Alderweireld is at the peak of his prowess and can add more authority to the Manchester United defence, something the Reds Devils have missed since Nemanja Vidic’s departure.
The fee is likely to attract a lot of suitors, but if Manchester United can convince the Belgian to join them, they would be in a good condition to launch a title bid next season.
Stats via Whoscored
