Why Manchester United Should Go All out for Mats Hummels This Summer

Manchester United have been linked with Mats Hummels for a long time now, but this summer they should do whatever it takes to bring the German defender to the club.

Miguel Delaney of ESPN FC reported last week that "United [are] confident they can complete deals with both Mats Hummels of Borussia Dortmund and Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne."

Of the two, it is the man whom Rafael Honigstein described in an ESPN FC article in July 2014 as "the most elegant, skillful centre-back that German football has produced in a very long time" who United should be keenest to acquire.

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The Red Devils' need for an experienced, reliable centre-half has been shown time and again this season. Paddy McNair has performed above expectation during his 1022 minutes of league football, but that number is higher than it should have been. The youngster has repeatedly been forced to step into his senior colleagues' shoes by an apparently never-ending series of injuries.

In truth, United possess plenty of talent in the central-defensive positions. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have the making of a good long-term partnership. However, relying on them to stay fit long consistently enough to grow into that partnership would seem at this point to be folly.

Jones has appeared in just 19 of United's 35 league games so far this season. Last season he managed 26 appearances, a reasonable figure, but the season before he only made 13 starts in the league. He has never managed 30 league appearances for United in a single season. 

If Smalling starts the next three games, he will hit 21 league starts for the season which will equal his previous best. 

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Jonny Evans' injury record and form this season are such that it seems very unlikely that Louis van Gaal will be inclined to keep him around, unless it is as a squad player. Marcos Rojo has done well in his first season, but it is not clear that he can be one of the world's finest centre-halves. 

Hummels certainly is. He would not only be an upgrade on all three of United's senior centre-backs in terms of reliability but also in quality. 

While Smalling is in the middle of a fine season, and Sir Alex Ferguson once infamously suggested that Jones could become "our best ever player," per Sky Sports, the German is, in truth, a level above.  

The World Cup winner was, according to Honigstein, the "de facto leader of the defence" during Germany's victorious 2014 campaign.” Honigstein also praised Hummels for the improvement in his performances, saying, "He used to have an unfortunate habit of trying to look too nonchalant. No more."

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Joachim Low is quoted by Honigstein—responding to Hummels' outstanding performance against France in the Quarter Final of that tournament—as saying "the way he fought for the ball was sensational. He's always in the right place."

This season has been a difficult one for Borrusia Dortmund. However, after a slow start—ironically, given the above, because of an injury—Hummels has once again proven himself one of the Bundesliga's—and world football's—best defenders.

His positioning and reading of the game remain superb. He is also dominant in the air, having won an average of six aerial duels per game, which puts him in sixth place in the Bundesliga but would be enough for second in the Premier League. 

It is considerably more than any United defender has won—although, as an aside, that can partly be explained by how often the Red Devils have dominated possession.

Hummels is a proven winner, a consistent performer and, at 26 years old, would be likely to be spending his prime years in United red should he arrive now.

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Given that Jurgen Klopp has announced he is leaving Dortmund, it seems as good a time as any for the player to make the move. United need additional options in defence and, ideally, for those options to improve the overall quality of the first XI.

It is a move which makes sense for all concerned, and United should indeed go all out to make it happen.