Manchester United prioritizes a new central defender
In mid-May, the English media assumed that Brazilian Alex Sandro would become the first signing for Manchester United next season, with the Red Devils investing around €56 million in his contract. However, this turned out to be far from the truth.
Currently, after securing the services of Brazilian midfielder Fred and right-back Diogo Dalot, Manchester United is not considering recruiting the Juventus player. In fact, although they do not rule out strengthening that position during the summer, José Mourinho has prioritized the arrival of a new central defender.
The Manchester Evening News adds that Mourinho has already compiled a preliminary list of up to eight candidates for the position: Frenchman Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), German Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Belgian Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Slovak Milan Skriniar (Inter Milan), Italian Alessio Romagnoli (AC Milan), Uruguayan José María Giménez (Atletico Madrid), and Turkish Caglar Soyuncu (Freiburg).
Naturally, signing any of these players will be difficult. In fact, only Alderweireld has a somewhat favorable contract situation as his contract expires in 2019 and he has no intention of extending his commitment with Spurs. The rest will require tough negotiations and payment of significant amounts.