Manchester United Need an Experienced Centre-Back to Win the Premier League

A lot hinges on whether Paul Pogba makes the move to Manchester United this summer. The Frenchman’s return to Old Trafford would mean a recalibration of predictions for next season in the Premier League and a shift in focus at both Juventus and Real Madrid, another club linked with a record swoop for the midfielder.

Indeed, Pogba is good enough to turn United into title front-runners, with manager Jose Mourinho recognising the importance of signing the brightest midfield talent European football has to offer. His capture would set down a marker for the rest of the Premier League.

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But no matter how impressive the signing of Pogba would be, United would still be an unbalanced, tangled outfit—even with the Frenchman as their new midfield dynamo. Mourinho might have addressed deficiencies in the centre of the pitch and in attack with the additions of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but there remains a glaring weakness in his team.

Mourinho’s success over the past decade or so has been based on defensive stability. He has presided over some of the greatest defenders of the modern era, with the likes of John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Walter Samuel all stalwarts under the Portuguese coach’s charge. 

In fact, defensive organisation, stubbornness and general effectiveness is something of a hallmark for Mourinho. Yet at United, he has few players who could help him achieve that. The defensive ranks at Old Trafford lag way behind what is needed to be successful at the top of the European game. A major reinforcement is needed.

Of course, Eric Bailly joined from Villarreal earlier this summer, with United paying around £30 million for the 22-year-old centre-back, as per BBC Sport. Bailly will give Mourinho another option at centre-back, but it seems unlikely he will be the ready-made defensive leader he needs. Only in the years to come could the Ivorian grow into that kind of player.

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And so United still need to find that figure this summer. The Old Trafford club has plenty of options at centre-back, with Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Paddy McNair all on the books, but not one is especially suited to being Mourinho’s defensive leader. 

Smalling made a marked improvement under former boss Louis van Gaal last season, especially during the first half of the campaign. At 26 years old, the England international is finally maturing, and it seems likely he will command a starting spot for the coming season under Mourinho. 

But Smalling isn’t the kind of personality Mourinho needs to control and organise things at the back. Neither is Jones, Blind, McNair or Rojo, who is reportedly set to be pushed out of the Old Trafford exit door, as per Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News. The Special One needs someone with a special kind of swagger, a special kind of presence. 

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He needs someone like Leonardo Bonucci. The M.E.N.'s Samuel Luckhurst, writing for the Mirror, recently linked the Juventus and Italy defender with a switch to Manchester United, although Chelsea and Manchester City are also to be keen on securing his services, reported by Antony Kastrinakis of the Sun and David Anderson of the Mirror respectively.

Exceptional centre-backs are hard to come by in European football at the moment, and they don’t come much more exceptional than Bonucci. 

Not only is the Italian positionally astute and strong in every way needed defensively, but he is also excellent with the ball at his feet, as he demonstrated with his assist for the Azzurri’s first goal of their Euro 2016 campaign earlier this summer. He would be perfect for Mourinho’s side—just as he would be for Chelsea, Manchester City and essentially every other outfit in the Premier League.

However, if Pogba is to end up at Old Trafford by the close of the summer transfer window, it is unrealistic to expect Juventus would also sell Bonucci. United, or any other side looking for a centre-back, will likely have to look elsewhere, which is a shame given how tailored he is for the vacant role in Mourinho’s side.

Nonetheless, United must sign an experienced centre-back this summer if they are to challenge for the Premier League title this season. Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and even Tottenham Hotspur all boast stronger, better defensive options than the Red Devils, and that will hold them back as they target their first championship in four years.

Maybe Mourinho recognises this. After all, it’s difficult to envisage a manager of the Portuguese’s shrewdness and intelligence hasn’t acknowledged the need for central-defensive reinforcement, but whether he has identified the individual to do that is another matter altogether.

It could be the case that the players who fit the job aren’t out there. At Inter Milan, Mourinho had Samuel as the veteran figure to help give his side some structure and experience at the back, with the Argentinian helping the Portuguese coach to deliver a historic treble of trophies in his final season in Italy, 2009/10. Samuel did what Mourinho wanted him to do.

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The Manchester United boss needs another Samuel—or Terry or Carvalho. Perhaps he will focus on turning one of Jones, Blind, Rojo or Bailly into that figure, pounding a square peg into a round hole through necessity more than anything else. Mourinho’s capacity as a man manager could be tested at Old Trafford this season.

United have made strides by building a team to Mourinho’s specifications this summer, but what use will that be if the side is built on shoddy defensive foundations? There’s only so much Mourinho can do if the basis of his ability as a coach and footballing thinker is undermined. 

Pogba’s signing would mean a lot, but it wouldn’t mean as much if the Frenchman doesn’t have an experienced, accomplished centre-back playing behind him.