Manchester United will be in the hunt for a centre back or two this summer with big changes expected at the back – no matter who is in the Old Trafford dugout.
Erik ten Hag continues to fight for his United job but performances continue to be a concern.
United were hardly convincing against Coventry City, Sheffield United and Burnley – three teams expected to be in the Championship together next season – over the last 10 days or so.
United didn’t lose any of those games but Ten Hag still manages to be under pressure with performances falling short of the mark.
Ineos will be weighing up whether to make a managerial change but will also be forming summer transfer plans with Jason Wilcox now on board as technical director.
Whether Ten Hag stays or goes, some positions are likely to be priorities – like centre back.
Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans are both out of contract this summer, Victor Lindelof’s long-term future is unclear and Lisandro Martinez continues to suffer injury problems.
United may need two centre backs this summer and we have already seen a host of names linked ahead of the summer transfer window.
Crystal Palace fear Marc Guehi exit
One of the names in the mix is Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi.
Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are expected to focus on signing homegrown talents and former Chelsea defender Guehi certainly fits the bill.
The 23-year-old has impressed since joining Palace from Chelsea in 2021 and is likely to be in the England squad for Euro 2024 if fit.
The Times now claim that United are still interested in signing Guehi being been mentioned on a number of occasions in the past.
Arsenal are also interested and it’s suggested that £55million will be enough to prise Guehi away from Selhurst Park.
Palace allegedly fear that Guehi will be on his way out this summer and Guehi is understood to be on a list of potential centre back signings for United this summer.
Rio Ferdinand on Guehi
£55million is just £5million more than the fee United paid to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Palace in 2019.
That may be good value in this market and one man who would surely love Guehi at United is Rio Ferdinand.
The former United centre back praised Guehi earlier this season having seen him ‘step up comfortably’ for England.
“John Stones, who’s the best England centre-half around at the moment is injured. ‘I’ve got to find a replacement’. Marc Guehi comes in. He just seemed to be able to step up at every level he gets asked to step up to. He steps up comfortably,” said Ferdinand.
That ability to step up is vital and would be useful if Guehi does make the move to United.
The expectation levels at Old Trafford are a different animal to what they are at Palace and Guehi would need to step up to that in order to become a success.
Guehi has shown no sign of panic against the top Premier League defenders and on the international stage, so United may well be confident that he can adjust to life in Manchester.
