Man Utd could replace Varane with £44m “top talent” who’s like Pique

A return of simply 22 objectives from 20 Premier League video games this season has unsurprisingly shone the highlight on Manchester United‘s attacking ranks of late, but it’s honest to say that the defensive unit additionally seems in want of reinforcement in 2024.

Within the Champions League, specifically, the Crimson Devils seemed quite shaky after conceding 15 goals of their six group-stage video games – the worst document of any English membership within the competitors’s historical past.

One notable challenge has been Erik ten Hag‘s incapacity to choose an everyday centre-back pairing attributable to harm, having even been compelled to deploy veteran summer season signing, Jonny Evans, much more regularly than was anticipated.

Not solely have the likes of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane been struck down by harm or sickness on quite a few events, however with the trio all in and round their thirties, a extra long-term answer must be discovered as a precedence.

Whereas Lindelof has seen his deal extended at Previous Trafford in latest days, Varane, in the meantime, is at present free to debate a doable pre-contract settlement with international golf equipment, with his deal set to expire this summer.

That quite brutal transfer to not hand the World Cup winner an extension would recommend that United are already starting to consider changing him within the close to future, with Italian starlet Giorgio Scalvini seemingly a kind of being lined up at current.

Man Utd switch information – Giorgio Scalvini

As per studies in Spain that emerged final week, the Crimson Devils are believed to be willing to fork out the €50m (£44m) fee that might be required to set off the 20-year-old’s launch clause, with Ten Hag and co trying to beat Actual Madrid to the teen’s signature.

The most recent indication is that the Previous Trafford aspect view Jean-Clair Todibo as their “primary goal” for the place – as per transfer expert Rudy Galetti – but Scalvini may symbolize a worthy various, having emerged as a “top talent” of late, in accordance with switch guru Fabrizio Romano.

As per the Spanish sources, United may look to make their transfer for the Atalanta ace this month, quite than wait till the summer season, with that more likely to come as a well timed enhance at a time when the Premier League giants are floundering exterior the highest 4.

Giogio Scalvini’s type of play

Already capped seven times by his nation at senior degree regardless of his relative youth, the 6 foot 4 colossus has unsurprisingly caught the eye of these on the Theatre of Goals, having established himself as a key determine in Bergamo of late.

With 76 first-team appearances underneath his belt so far – during which he has scored 4 objectives and contributed three assists – the rising gem has shortly caught the attention of his teammates, with ex-Arsenal man Sead Kolasinac only recently stating:

“I’m struck by the maturity of his 19 years. He reads the sport effectively, he is aware of what to do with the ball, defend one-on-one, learn how to use his physique in marking: it is good to have him alongside in defence.

“However to begin with he is an efficient man, even humble: if he would not lose this character, he may have an ideal profession.”

What’s extra, the towering asset can also be believed to share a likeness to 1 former United man, within the type of Gerard Pique – in accordance with expertise scout Jacek Kulig – having been praised as a ‘complete, elegant and dominant centre-back‘.

Pique memorably started his senior profession underneath Sir Alex Ferguson after arriving from Barcelona in 2004, earlier than finally returning to Camp Nou 4 years later to ascertain himself as a key determine in a glittering interval of success for the La Liga aspect.

Whereas it did not work out for the now-retired expertise in Manchester, his heroics in Catalonia showcased the blunder that Ferguson and co had made by letting him slip from their grasp, as he grew to become at one stage arguably the “best centre-back in the world” – as ex-teammate Carlos Puyol famous in 2018.

To assume that United may be capable to snap up the inheritor to the World Cup-winning rock is intriguing certainly, with Scalvini actually a left-field possibility that United ought to effectively think about.

How Scalvini compares to Varane

Very like Pique – who Puyol described as being in “complete control” on the pitch – what units Scalvini aside is his composure and high quality in possession, showcased by the truth that he ranks in the top 14% amongst these in his place in Europe’s prime 5 leagues for progressive passes per 90.

Commonly seen driving out from the again with the ball at his toes, as a part of Atalanta’s most popular three-at-the-back system, the Chiari native additionally ranks in the top 13% for profitable take-ons per 90, additional proof of how snug he’s at enjoying out from the again.

That’s in stark distinction to the person he may change – Varane – with the skilled defender arguably extra of an old-school defender than an asset on the ball, the 30-year-old ranking in just the top 28% and the highest 48% for those self same two metrics, respectively.

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The Crimson Devils have been linked with an curiosity within the proficient younger defender.

Such high quality on the ball doesn’t detract from Scalvini’s final objective of holding the ball out of the web, nonetheless, as he additionally ranks within the prime 1% for interceptions, the highest 8% for tackles and the highest 20% for aerial duels received per 90.

Varane, however, ranks in simply the underside 9% for interceptions and the underside 14% for tackles made, in addition to in simply the highest 41% for aerial duels received throughout the final one year, seemingly suggesting that the youthful man is performing significantly higher of late.

With the present United man additionally proving unreliable attributable to his common spells on the sidelines – having started just 29 league games for the reason that begin of 2022/23 – the Italian, in the meantime, has been a much more common choose underneath Gian Piero Gasperini, starting 44 times for the reason that begin of final time period.

For nearly as good as Varane could be, the lack to depend on him over a sustained interval is a urgent challenge, with the ruthless determination to maneuver him on seemingly sensible.

Whether or not Scalvini would be the man to interchange him stays to be seen, but the Pique-esque expertise seemingly has the credentials to show a greater than sufficient substitute, if not an improve.