Utsha Sarkar
Real Madrid or Juventus: Where Is The Final Piece For Manchester United’s Perfect Transfer Window?
Merely hours remain as football fans all over the world hold their breath. The Premier League is back with Leicester playing the first match against Hull City. Friday, Saturday and Sunday won’t be the same again until the month of May next year. Even though the Premier League starts tonight, the transfer market remains open. Clubs are getting frantically busy to bolster their squad to mount either a title challenge or a champions league spot or fight for their survival. Every transfer season, the transfer record is smashed. The big money moves started way back with Zidane securing a 46 million pound move from Juventus and then started again by Ronaldo, Kaka, Bale etc. Paul Pogba is the first player to have secured a 100 million pound move to England and he is probably the first of the lot. Even with big names lining up for United and all the big pundits across the world tipping United for a title challenge, the most successful club in the Premier League history is still lacking a Vidic-esque central defender. Having already secured Eric Bailly, United are still short on their defence. Reports suggest Daley Blind might become a part of De Boer’s revolution in Inter Milan. With Blind gone, Mourinho will not have anyone experienced to back up the central defensive partnership between Smalling and Bailly. Mourinho has also been asked by the board to offload a few players before funds are made available to him again. So a fifth signing is looking like a far-fetched idea at the moment.
But Mourinho will surely want to sign at least another centre-back before the transfer market closes in England. Two names have come up as possible centre back options. Raphael Varane and Leonardo Bonucci.
Raphael Varane was bought by Mourinho for 10 million Euros to Real Madrid. His chances did dry up after Mourinho left, but with Pepe and Sergio Ramos finding themselves on the other side of 30 in terms of age, Varane seems to be a very reliable option for Zidane. Mourinho will have to shell out in excess of 50 million pounds to prize the defender away from the Santiago Bernabeu. Standing at 6 ft. 3 in. this defender is good on the ball and his reading of the game is phenomenal. He sticks to his man in a diligent manner and never lets his opponent any breathing space. At the age of 23, he is one of the most exciting prospects and Mourinho can forge a defensive partnership between Bailly and Varane, which can rival that of Vidic and Ferdinand.
Leonardo Bonucci, on the other hand, is one of the best defenders in the world at the moment. The Italian has forged a wall with his compatriots at Juventus and the Italian National team as well. He is as good as they come. Having a wide range of passes and creativity he plays out from the back. No one can actually forget the lofted ball to Emanuele Giaccherini which split the entire Belgian defence in the European Championships last month. His work rate is unrivalled as Antonio Conte made sure for everyone. Calm and composed, he can influence the defence and all his defensive skills are top notch. His main ability being sticking to his players and his experience in reading the game is unparalleled. Mourinho will be more than satisfied if Bonucci makes it into his team. That will clearly mean that Bonucci will definitely play a huge role in mentoring Bailly which is a blessing in disguise.
The problem still remains as Juventus won’t part with another one of their stars after being stripped of Pogba and Morata. Zinedine Zidane has also mentioned that Varane won’t be sold. So it will take a ‘Herculean effort’ by Mourinho and Manchester United to prize either one of them and quite frankly time and money are not on their side at the moment.
But all being said and done, Varane looks like the final piece that Mourinho would like to add to his squad. Even if the deals are not possible this season maybe next season one of the deals will go through.
