Why Manchester United must invest in signing Milan Skriniar
The start of the new season hasn’t been great for Manchester United. Their Red Devils have lost two of the opening four fixtures and sit 10th in the table with 6 points. And the main reason for this is a lack of quality centre-backs.
Over the past few seasons, Manchester United have been the best defensive side in the Premier League but that was mostly down to the work of David De Gea and not the defenders in front of him. But De Gea can only do so much. In the recent defeats against Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur, the Red Devils conceded 6 goals due to silly mistakes.
Manchester Evening News had linked Milan Skriniar to Manchester United over the summer. Skriniar is a 23-year-old central defender, who currently plays for Inter Milan. He had a fantastic season in the Serie A last year where he started all 38 games in the league and scored 4 goals, thus helping his team qualify for the Champions League.
But United must sign him not because of his goals but because of his qualities at the other end of the pitch. He made 55 tackles, 36 interceptions and 171 clearances. Under the guidance of manager Luciano Spalleti, he has improved with the ball at his feet. In fact, he completed 2171 passes in the league with an accuracy of 91%.
He also supplied 0.22 key passes per game, proving he is also not scared to carry the ball out from the back and into the midfield to aid his attackers.
The fact that Skriniar arrived at Inter from Sampdoria only in 2017 makes him a tough target for United. He is just 23 and still has four years left on his contract.
United did sign a single centre-back over the summer and that decision is proving to be costly. Skriniar would not come cheap but if he settles into England, he could be the final piece in the jigsaw for Jose Mourinho to launch a title challenge.
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Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have been at the club for years but they haven’t been commanding and solid enough. It’s about time United get rid of either one or both of English centre-backs and invest in young and top-quality defenders from abroad.
