Transfer Scouting Report - Manchester United and Barcelona chase aerially dominant centre-back Mats Hummels

According to The Daily Express, Manchester United and Barcelona are chasing Dortmund’s Mats Hummels. The defender has an alleged £29.5 million release clause in his contract, and it appears as though David Moyes is entertaining the possibility of making a move for the German in January.

Dortmund’s defender is recognised as one of the best centre-backs in Europe, a verdict that has arisen following the outstanding partnership he has forged with Neven Subotic. However, it is the latter who has outshone Hummels – the Manchester United target has won only 60% of his attempted tackles, a figure which pales in comparison to Subotic’s 87%. These statistics suggest that, of the two Dortmund defenders, United are targeting the wrong one.

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However, one area where Hummels betters Subotic is in the air. The former Bayern centre-back has won an impressive 38 aerial duels (79% success rate). This indicates how effective he is in the air and this could be vital for Man United, as the likes of Nemanja Vidic are brilliant in the air, this would mean Man United have a long-term replacement for the big Serb.

This is furthered by comparing the Performance Scores of the two players. Hummels’ score is just over 10 points less than Subotic’s, again suggesting that the German is the lesser of the two Dortmund centre-halves. However, Hummels’ Score is higher than any defender in the Manchester United squad, figures which show that he would be a solid addition to Moyes’ squad.

The fact that Hummels is yet to make a defensive error this season emphasises the fact that the German completes his job in superb fashion. Indeed, in the whole of the 2012-13 season Dortmund’s defender made only two mistakes, a lower amount than Bayern Munich’s Dante who gained so much praise last year.

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However, no Man United centre-back, besides Rio Ferdinand made more defensive errors than Hummels. The likes of Vidic made no defensive errors.

Hummels would be a solid addition for Manchester United and could bring an element of continuation to Old Trafford following the recent injury-prone spells of Vidic and Ferdinand.

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