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With the January transfer window now open and a new manager at the helm in the form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United look ready to flex their financial muscles again.
It’s pretty clear where United need to improve – at the back – and it’s no surprise that one player they’ve been heavily linked with recently is Napoli’s Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Reports suggest that Koulibaly might cost upwards of £100m, meaning it’s a bit of a question mark as to whether United would be willing to spend such money in January. But here are 3 reasons why they should.
#1 Their current defenders simply aren’t good enough
Despite United having climbed back up to 6th place in the Premier League following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho, it’s pretty clear where their weak point is. They might’ve netted 12 goals in 3 games under Solskjaer, but they’ve still failed to keep a clean sheet despite facing relatively weak opponents.
In fact, United have kept just 2 clean sheets in the league thus far in 2018-19 - in a September victory over Burnley, and in their November goalless draw with Crystal Palace. And they’ve conceded 32 goals – more than any of their rivals in the top 6, and double the amount that Chelsea and Manchester City have leaked. Even Brighton, Palace and Newcastle, who sit 13th, 14th and 15th respectively, have conceded less.
Part of this stems from an unsettled defence, as Mourinho used wild combinations of players at the back – including deploying midfielders like Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic as defenders. But the bottom line is that it all comes back to a simple fact: the current foursome of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof just aren’t good enough to marshal the defence of a side challenging for the title.
Koulibaly on the other hand clearly is good enough. In action for Napoli in Serie A, he’s already been involved in 8 clean sheets this season, and averages more tackles, blocks, interceptions and clearances per game than Lindelof, who has been United’s most used defender thus far.
Essentially, he’s a massive upgrade on who the Red Devils currently have. And they’ve only got to look at Liverpool’s progress since signing Virgil van Dijk to see the difference a single player can make.
#2 His signing would send a message that 2018-19 shouldn't be written off just yet
After firing Jose Mourinho and replacing him until the end of the season with a caretaker boss – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – it’d be easy for both the United board and their fans to almost write 2018-19 off as a disastrous season, and simply look forward to the summer and the 2019-20 season looming over the horizon.
After all, the Red Devils are currently on 35 points – that’s 19 adrift of leaders Liverpool - and the gap between them and 4th placed Chelsea is already 8 points, which is basically a chasm in the world of the Premier League. But in all honesty, to write off the season would be a huge mistake.
While United aren’t likely to win the league at this stage, any long-time fan of the Red Devils would remind you that they famously overturned a 12-point deficit to steal the Premier League title away from Newcastle in 1995-96. More recently – and in a better comparison – Tottenham rose to 3rd in last season’s Premier League table despite sitting in 5th when the Christmas period ended.
Thus, if United were able to sign a huge name like Koulibaly in the January transfer window – likely breaking the world transfer fee record for a defender in the process – it’d send a major message to their fans and rivals alike that they’re still looking to finish in the Champions League qualification spots this season – and that they’re still hunting for other trophies in the process, too.
Not only that, but it’d also show some faith in Solskjaer as manager – something that’d probably be a good idea even if he isn’t the long-term plan, as it’d likely get the majority of United’s other players such as Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku firmly on board with the Norwegian caretaker.
Sure, Koulibaly might cost a ton of money, but the message that his signing would send – as well as the effect he’d have on the Red Devils on the pitch – would make it completely worth it.
#3 He could help United go deep in the Champions League
Despite their poor start in the Premier League, United haven’t done too badly in the UEFA Champions League this season. A big win over Juventus in Turin was the key result, and despite a loss in their last group game to Valencia, they were able to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament.
Despite all of their shortcomings thus far, the Red Devils still have one of the best squads in Europe. Paul Pogba when on form is one of the best midfielders in the world bar none, attackers like Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez have the ability to damage any defence, and in David De Gea, they can boast the talents of arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
The only weakness holding them back from making a real run in the Champions League – a knockout competition, meaning all of the suffering under Mourinho can be forgotten going forward – is their defence.
Drawn against Paris St. Germain in the round of 16, United would need to dig deep to find a way to win. Their front-line can easily break the French champions, but right now, their defence isn’t likely to stand up under the bombardment of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
With Kalidou Koulibaly aboard though, things could be different. By signing the Senegalese colossus, United wouldn’t just be getting a central defender; Koulibaly has experience playing anywhere in defence – including in both full-back positions – and has even masqueraded as a holding midfielder at times.
That means Solskjaer could work to find the correct mix of players around him in order to really shore up United’s defence.
If they were to sign Koulibaly to make their defence more solid, then United would definitely have a chance of beating PSG. And if they were to do that, then they’d literally be four games away from the Champions League final.
Given other underdogs have succeeded in the competition before, it wouldn’t be an impossible target for Solskjaer – particularly with a world-class defender like Koulibaly on board.
