Former Man Utd striker Louis Saha has revealed his belief that the Red Devils should have swooped for Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld this summer too.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will hope that he has addressed his defensive problems with the signings of Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, as that was undoubtedly the biggest weakness in his side last season.
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United conceded 54 goals in 38 Premier League games, and so if they wish to compete for a top-four place and trophies, they needed to bring in reinforcements in the department.
As noted by BBC Sport, they splashed out a whopping £80m on Maguire to prise him away from Leicester City, and so the pressure and responsibility will largely be on his shoulders to shore things up at the back this season and beyond.
However, Saha believes that they may well have missed a trick in not swooping for Alderweireld too, with The Express noting that the Spurs stalwart was available for £25m earlier this summer before his release clause expired, although he will be a free agent next summer.
“Why United didn’t trigger Alderweireld’s release clause is a complete mystery to me,” he told Bwin, as quoted by the Express. “He’s been excellent for Tottenham and would have instantly strengthened United’s defence.”
“When you look at the money United have spent on defenders this summer, they could have got themselves an absolute bargain who still has a lot of years of football to play.
“United clearly made Maguire the main target, but the pair could have been a real force together.”
Time will tell whether or not that’s a decision that Man Utd live to regret, or if the double defensive signing is enough to help them compete this season.
It’s difficult to disagree with Saha though, as ultimately given Alderweireld’s experience and quality, he could have formed a key partnership with Maguire, with the likes of Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly acting as depth.
Coupled with the presence of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling though, perhaps Solskjaer felt as though he had too many options in the squad without being able to offload any players, with Marcos Rojo still at Old Trafford too after his touted move to Everton collapsed, as per the Sun.
