Paul Scholes clearly holds the Manchester United transfer target in high regard as he has compared him with club legend Rio Ferdinand.
Defence has been an area of weakness for Manchester United in recent years. Gone are the days when it was difficult to come to Old Trafford and score a goal against the Red Devils.
Things have looked up over the last few weeks. They kept a clean-sheet against Chelsea in a 0-0 draw and then backed it up with a 5-0 demolition of RB Leipzig in the Champions League. But the fans will know very well that they cannot afford to get their head turned by a few impressive performances.
There have been a number of times under Solskjaer’s time as manager that it has looked that the team has finally made the jump to become title contenders once again only to go back to square one not too long after.
Paul Scholes though believes that Dayot Upamecano is the man who can solve their worries in defence. The Manchester United legend even went as far as comparing him to the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Jaap Stam.
As reported by Express, he said:
"“This is the type of defender I think United need, he’s very different to Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.“He absolutely loves one-vs-ones, he loves getting down that channel because he knows he’s gonna beat them.“It’s very much the same as what Rio used to do, what Jaap Stam used to do.“It frees the rest of the team to worry about attacking play, because you know you’ve got a centre-half who is going to defend and he’ll do it all day.”"
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That’s certainly very high praise. Rio Ferdinand is a Manchester United legend and someone that they have never quite managed to replace. Jaap Stam’s time at Old Trafford might not have been as long but he was still a great player and the club could certainly do with someone like him at the back.
Upamecano is someone who the club have been linked with for quite some time now and it looks like they could be set to make a move for him next summer. Many fans’ minds might have changed over the past week though after seeing him having a horrid time up against Marcus Rashford in their 5-0 win at Old Trafford.
One bad performance should not put the Red Devils off the Frenchman though. Because if it does, there will be no lack of suitors for the defender’s signature. Especially at the reported £38 million his release clause is going to fall to next summer.