Manchester United Transfer News: Mehdi Benatia Snub, Latest on Layvin Kurzawa

Manchester United have had major defensive issues so far this season, but things could potentially have been very different had centre-back Mehdi Benatia decided to transfer to Old Trafford from Roma in the summer (rather than to Bayern Munich).

It seems that it was certainly an option for the Moroccan international, with Sky Sports presenter Jim White revealing that Benatia admitted as much in a recent interview:

He eventually made a move for £21 million to Bayern from Roma—after a single season in Italy's capital in which he was one of Serie A's best defenders—but an offer from United was clearly on the table.

Benatia has started in each of Bayern's five Champions League games thus far this term. His side was victorious in the first four of those matches (and conceded just one goal). The Bundesliga side qualified for the knockout stages as group winners with two games to spare.

He also has been a major part of Bayern's setup in the Bundesliga, where they have conceded just three goals in 14 matches.

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Benatia is an undeniably high-quality centre-back and arguably a significant upgrade on anything Louis van Gaal currently has at his disposal in the position at Old Trafford.

He is exactly the authoritative, cool figure United could have done with in a season where much of their back-line play has been characterised by a lack of organisation and concentration.

While improvements are apparent at United—they have won their last four matches—Benatia could well have prevented many of the results that contributed to a poor start to the season.

Furthermore, if he had switched to Manchester in the summer, Van Gaal would not have to be desperately searching for a top-quality defensive signing for the long term.

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One defender who Van Gaal is reportedly interested in signing up is Monaco left-back Layvin Kurzawa, with talkSPORT recently reporting that United are set to make a January bid for the Frenchman.

As StatsBomb's Ted Knutson notes, the 22-year-old has been in fine form this season and looks set to become a world-class player:

He would undoubtedly be a fine addition to the United squad to provide cover and competition for Luke Shaw, but the Red Devils look set to face competition for his signature from Arsenal per Le 10 Sport (h/t Metro's Will Giles). 

While Kurzawa has previously admitted that he dreams of a move to United, per talkSPORT's piece, there's no doubt Arsenal (with the Gunners experiencing their own defensive crisis at present) could change his mind with the right deal.

Van Gaal will likely add defensive reinforcements to his squad in January, and Kurzawa would be a decent buy. However, a signing of Benatia's quality is also essential, and United can't afford to miss out again on a top defender.