Manchester United’s problems over the last few seasons have mostly been at the back as the defence has lacked leadership, quality and has leaked far too many goals.
One of the defenders who has been at the club over the last few years but hasn’t made much of an impact is Argentine defender Marcos Rojo, who, it seems, is set to stay at the club going into the next season.
Rojo recently revealed in an interview that he has spoken to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and is set to stay at the club:
“For now I would like to stay at United. I spoke to the manager before the end of the season and we spoke about his plans for me.
“He said that I was in his plans, that I’m an important player and that he wanted me to return to full fitness, to be able to count on me in the first team,” said the Argentine defender.
The Manchester United defender joined the club from Sporting Lisbon for £16 million in 2014 but hasn’t been able to nail down a starting spot due to various injuries.
The Argentine international has featured in 113 games for the Red Devils in all competitions, while also being an important part of the national team, featuring in 59 games for Argentina.
Rojo’s contract at Manchester United expires in 2021, with the defender having signed a new contract last year with the club.
Should Rojo be retained at the club by Solskjaer?
Rojo was an important member of the 2016-17 season for Manchester United under Jose Mourinho, the season where the Red Devils won the League Cup and Europa League.
But since then, he has had limited opportunities, mostly due to various injuries. This season has been very difficult for Rojo as more injuries limited him to just 3 starts for Manchester United.
Manchester United have five first-team centre-backs – Rojo, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof – but none of them has shown leadership qualities and defensive stability to become the first-choice at the club. Lindelof, perhaps, is the only who is assured of a start in defence but even he’s looked shaky at times.
With so many centre-backs – and none of them showing traits of being a world-class defender – it’s time to sell a few players and buy one or two quality defenders in the summer transfer window.
Rojo should be let go in the summer as he has been inconsistent and far too injury-prone and his claims have certainly surprised us and we feel Ole should be clearing the deadwood in the squad and aim for a refreshed start especially in defence. His exit could make space for a new centre-back signing- the latter part being something which United are reportedly trying hard to do.
