Manchester United have reportedly decided that they won’t sign the £20 million-rated defender in January despite being linked with him for quite some time.
After the start that they have made this season, it is hard for Manchester United fans to complain. They just need a point against Burnley to go clear at the top of the Premier League table after teams around them have struggled badly in recent weeks, leaving the Red Devils with a clear run.
It is not all because of the recent struggles of the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur though. United themselves are on a brilliant run at the moment with their last league defeat coming at the hands of Arsenal, back in early November.
With a title challenge on the horizon, they could be expected to strengthen in certain positions in January though as there are still quite a few voids in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad. One of them is the lack of depth at right-back.
While Aaron Wan-Bissaka is the undisputed number one, there are questions about the attacking side of his game. His backup, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, also seems out-of-favour at the moment and on his way out of the club. Diogo Dalot is away on loan at AC Milan while Brandon Williams looks set to leave on temporary basis as well.
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As a result, signing another right-back would not be the worst idea in the world. And Kieran Trippier was a name that was floated around for a while.
Now, it looks like those plans have been shelved though according to The Athletic. The Englishman has been handed a 10-week ban for breaching FA’s betting rules which appears to have been the deal breaker for the Red Devils.
Atletico Madrid appear to be open to letting him go for a transfer fee of around £20 million. And with his extensive experience in the Premier League and the Champions League, that is quite a deal in the current market despite the fact that he is 30 years old.
Unfortunately, it does not look like that will be happening though. Let’s just hope that United have other backup options in mind and don’t just look past the need of signing cover at right-back.