United Showing Interest in Young PSG Defender Marquinhos
According to Telefoot, Manchester United is among several teams interested in PSG centre-back Marquinhos, as United looks for a bonafide starter to add depth to this thin position.
United brought in Eric Bailly last summer from Villarreal as the first signing of the Mourinho era, and the Ivorian has locked down his spot as the starting center back. However, the team has suffered from the lack of depth in the position, mainly due to injuries. Marquinhos not only would provide depth, but also the ability to play right back and defensive midfielder, if need be.
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His most important quality is his great sense of positioning: “He has an incredible reading of the game and positions himself well through the course of the game. He is always at the right place at the right time. The fact that he is so accurate with his decisions means that he does not make too many defensive errors,” writes Aakriti Mehrotra of OutsideOfTheBoot.com.
Along with his sense of positioning, Marquinhos boasts a very high passing acumen, completing 93.5% of his passes so far this season, according to Who Scored. With United backs being so prone to fatal giveaways, especially when under high pressure, Marquinhos’s technique would provide more security when playing from the back.
Perhaps the only place where the Sao Paulo native falters is in the aerial game. His 6-foot frame creates a glaring disadvantage, something that could be easily exploited in the Premier League.
Off the field, his experience despite his young 22 years of age is nothing short of remarkable. The Brazilian is quickly approaching his 100th game with PSG since arriving from Roma in 2013, where he also accumulated 26 appearances in his only season for the Italian side.
2013 also marked his senior debut for Brazil at age 19, after winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup only two years prior. Last year, Marquinhos starred in Brazil’s first-ever Olympic gold medal victory at the Rio games.
Due to his already impressive resume, Marquinhos is reportedly priced at €45 million. He has drawn strong interest from Barcelona, whom he has already rejected, with Chelsea also joining the fray recently along with United as reported by Telefoot.
Should Jose Mourinho secure the 22-year-old, United fans could be seeing the dawn of the next great centre-back pairing -along with Bailly- to command the back side for many, many years to come.