Top 10 alternative signings Manchester United could have made

#8 Aymeric Laporte instead of Marcos Rojo

Aymeric Laporte(R) would've been a better centre-back choice

Marcos Rojo is a decent player and he's put in some good performances for United since his arrival in 2014. He'd been apart of the Argentinian squad that reached the World Cup final of 2014, making most of his appearances at left-back in the tournament.

It's likely Rojo was bought to play on the left side in a back three, a formation preferred by Louis van Gaal, but as this United squad didn't really suit that style of playing, Van Gaal reverted to a back four.

Comfortable and skilled on the ball, but not good enough defensively, it was apparent Rojo would not be the long-term answer to United's centre-back position.

Like I said, Rojo is a fine player, but just not suited to what United needed (like the vast majority of van Gaal's signings). United should have been looking for a more conventional defender.

Aymeric Laporte was another talented young player at Athletic Bilbao in the early 2010s. Though it was notoriously difficult to prize players off the Basque club, United should have pushed to sign the then 20-year-old Laporte instead of Rojo.

Laporte could have developed into the complete defender at United, solid at the back and an imposing physical presence, Laporte is just as comfortable defending as he was comfortable bringing the ball out of defence.

In 2018, these traits haven't gone unnoticed and he has finally arrived in Manchester, just for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, instead. Though Laporte would have come at a price, United could have got one of the most promising defenders in Europe.