As reported by The Manchester Evening News, incoming manager Erik Ten Hag could certainly hand over the captain’s armband to a new player at Manchester United. This leaves Harry Maguire to focus on his defensive drawbacks.
Harry Maguire is currently having a miserable season with the club. He has been a regular but his frailties have made him an easy target for his opponents. Fans and pundits have widely criticized the English center-back.
Last year, the club had signed Raphael Varane as a solid center-back partner for Maguire. But things haven’t worked up exactly as expected.
Varane has already missed 15 games due to injury. He may not even feature in the game against Liverpool. Due to his inconsistency, Ralf Rangnick has been made to play Victor Lindelof at the back. Although the Swede has been always present in the starting XI, he has failed to bring in any major improvements.
Other center-backs like Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have little to no future at the club. Bailly has played fewer games for the club than his country this season. Phil Jones has played just one game in the past two years and has been fighting to be fit.
Not to forget, Axel Tuanzebe could also leave United after poor loan spells at Aston Villa and Italian club Napoli.
This leaves a large gap in the back-line with two defensive signings needed to stabilize the defense. The club has targeted Antonio Rudger but the German wants to play for a team that can compete in the Champions League.
Last year, United had enquired about Villarreal’s Pau Torres but didn’t show much seriousness in the club. The Spaniard opted to stay with Unai Emery’s squad and has since then made his way into the Spanish National team. He has also helped his team reach the Champions League sem-finals this season.
Manchester United are having a poor season as they have already conceded 44 goals in the league this season. They are in danger of breaking their own record of conceding 54 goals in a single league season.
The next match-up is against Liverpool and the following two games are against Arsenal and Chelsea. These games could make things much more difficult for the Red Devils in their top-four pursuit.
