Manchester United club icon and current Wales manager Ryan Giggs wants his former club to focus on two specific areas of dire need this summer transfer window. Giggs thinks United needs to beef up the central defense and augment the roster of attacking midfielders.
The team has made two signings already this window- Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred and full back Diogo Dalot. Who will be the the third new player to arrive at Old Trafford this summer?
Well, the transfer rumors have linked United with all sorts of attacking midfielder names including Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Paris Saint-Germain man Marco Verratti.
“In midfield I’d like to see [an attacking midfielder] – we’ve been saying it for a long time, we thought [Paul] Pogba would be that attacking midfielder I would like to see,” Giggs is quoted in the Manchester Evening News.
“They don’t grow on trees unfortunately, a [Luka] Modric, a [Toni] Kroos type who can keep the ball.”
While obtaining an attacking mid is job one, United needs to seriously strengthen central defense as well. Despite all that money spent on acquiring Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly in the past two transfer windows, United still started Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, a central defense pairing that some United supporters refer to as “the chuckle brothers” in a cup game.
Another center half upgrade is needed, and maybe the third time’s the charm in regards to Mourinho center back buys.
United have been linked to Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld, Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane, and also saw a bid for reportedly €65 million rated Milan Skriniar rejected by Inter Milan, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Ryan Giggs on the issues in the spine of the defense:
“Also I think a centre half we need. All the successful United teams over the years – [Gary] Pallister, [Steve] Bruce, Jaap Stam, [Rio] Ferdinand, [Nemanja] Vidic – they’ve always had top class centre halves.”
“Again, they don’t grow on trees. Who do we get, I don’t know, but I think a midfielder and centre half are vital.”
It should certainly be a very interesting summer transfer window at Old Trafford, so watch this space.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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