Manchester United Transfer News: Latest on Mehdi Benatia and Marcos Rojo
As Manchester United fans sat with their heads in their hands watching Swansea City claim three points at Old Trafford on Saturday, one thing was crystal clearโthe need to invest is greater than ever.
The same players mean the same problems for new manager Louis van Gaal, but an opening-day defeat may not be the worst thing to happen to United.
Such a result (and sloppy performance) will open the clubโs eyes to the need to bring some new talent to Manchester, and here, we look at two defenders that could make the cut.
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Mehdi Benatia
Romaโs Mehdi Benatia has been the subject of mass transfer speculation throughout the summer, but it appears that Manchester United have now moved into pole position to land the highly rated defender.
As Sky Sportsโ Jim White revealed, Benatia could be joining Manchester soon, with the Red Devils looking to secure a deal for his services:
The 27-year-old was one of Romaโs standout performers in Serie A last term, warranting a reported ยฃ24 million bid from United recentlyโper Rob Shepherd of the Daily Mail.
While a staggering transfer fee, Saturdayโs match with Swansea proved that defensive additions are absolutely essential at Old Trafford, as Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tyler Blackett simply werenโt up to scratch.
You canโt go a lot higher in terms of a replacement thanย Benatia, though, and ยฃ24 million seems a reasonable price to pay for a defender on top of his game.
Jones, Smalling and Blackett are talented players, sure, but what United so sorely need after the departures of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic is a leader for their defensive revolution.
Benatia is that and more, and while he recently told Roma fans to โrelaxโ as he was โstaying putโ in Serie Aโper ESPNโUnited fans can officially begin to get excited.
Though much of the deal still needs to be ironed out, such is the necessity of Benatiaโs transfer that Unitedโs management wonโt be stubborn on the financial front.
In return, theyโll seal a deal for one of the best defenders in European football, but even then, itโs not quite enough to reverse the clubโs gloomy fortunes.
Marcos Rojo
The next step of bringing back the days of United being a fearsome force in the Premier League is luring Marcos Rojo to Old Trafford, another player whose rumours have been piling up during the transfer window.
The Sporting Lisbon star impressed greatly with Argentina at the World Cup in Brazil, with the kind of performances that make links with the likes of Manchester United far from surprisingโas WhoScored.comโs statistics show:
Rojo is as versatile as they come in terms of a defender, with the ability to play anywhere across the back line.
Such a trait would be incredibly useful to Van Gaal in his 3-5-2 system, and while the 24-year-old loves getting forward, Rojoโs defensive brilliance is what the Dutch manager really wants him for.
Shepherdโs report stated that United recently made a ยฃ15 million bid for the Argentinian, resulting in Sporting knocking back the bid and Rojo himself handing in a transfer request.
It seems that the Red Devils are now clear to pursue and bring Rojo in but new developments mean that itโs not quite as simple as that.
Controversial management company Doyen Sports own 75 per cent of the defender, meaning that a hefty chunk of the transfer fee paid to Lisbon will go to themโยฃ11.25 million if the ยฃ15 million bid had have been accepted.
With that in mind, Jack De Menezes of The Independentย wrote that the Portuguese giants are holding out for a ยฃ24 million bid for Rojo, giving them a healthy profit despite Doyen being the main beneficiaries of the move.
De Menezes wrote that the transfer saga has caused somewhat of a stir at Sporting, with Doyen releasing a statement outlining their rights in the transfer:
"Sporting is entirely within its rights not to transfer the player Marcos Rojo, knowing that it only has to make up for the fund under the terms and deadlines as contractually established since the beginning."
It all means that United will likely have to pay over the odds if they want to bring Rojo to Old Trafford, and while heโll definitely make a big impact, such money can be better spent elsewhere.
With just a few weeks of the transfer window remaining, the only concrete fact at this point in time is that Van Gaal needs to act fast to improve his squad.
Landing Benatia and Rojo would certainly be a good place to start, but itโs crystal clear that improvements are needed all over the pitchโnot just at the back.
