Ligue 1 side AS Monaco have reportedly rejected a bid by Manchester United for their defender Benoit Badiashile. The 19-year-old centre-back has been at Monaco since 2016 and made his senior debut at the age of 17 against the mighty Paris Saint-Germain.
As per RMC, Monaco manager Niko Kovac does not want to let go of the highly-rated youngster and the club have rejected a bid of €25 million from Manchester United. Bayer Leverkusen are also reportedly interested in signing him. The report further states that Monaco will sell Benoit Badiashile to United only if they make an offer similar to the Anthony Martial deal five years ago.
Badiashile has four years remaining on his contract, having signed a new deal last year.
Benoit Badiashile: Should United go back with a better offer?
The first thing that stands out with Benoit Badiashile is his height. The teenager stands at an imposing 6’4″, and as expected, is very good in the air. In the 2019-20 season, the youngster won 3.5 aerial duels on an average. Despite his height, he is quick off the mark and can make key interceptions and make recovery runs when out of position.
Benoit Badiashile is also comfortable on the ball and is a good passer from the back. The Frenchman averaged 58.4 passes last season, completing 85.3% of all attempts. The youngster has been likened with the likes of Raphael Varane, who is one of the premier central defenders in the world currently.
The AS Monaco defender is someone who has all the qualities to become a top-class player in Europe. Manchester United need a new centre-back to play alongside captain Harry Maguire, as the Red Devils were found out defensively at times, last season. Victor Lindelof is a good player to have in the squad, but he is not one that can help United bridge the gap at the top and is likely to make way if the club decide to bring in a competent option in the summer.
Youngster Axel Tuanzebe has had injury issues and needs more game time to show what he’s capable of, while the likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo do not seem to have a future at the club anymore. Benoit Badiashile would be a good signing and considering United paid €35 million to sign Lindelof in 2017, they can up the bid for the Monaco man and look to secure that area of the pitch for the long-term.
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