Pochettino reaches decision on first Man Utd defender signing in £55m deal
Man Utd have decided to make Nathan Collins their top centre-back target in January after hiring Mauricio Pochettino, according to reports.
The Red Devils concentrated all of their summer transfer budget on improving their midfield areas with Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos all joining.
After spending almost £150m in the summer, Man Utd have had an awful start to the new season with the Red Devils currently 19th in the Premier League.
Carrick was sacked earlier this week after just one win in ten Premier League matches this term and Man Utd replaced him with former Tottenham and Chelsea head coach Pochettino.
Man Utd already had in mind their targets for January with speculation that a centre-back, left-back and forward are top of their shopping list, although it doesn’t mean they will manage to strengthen all three positions.
And now Football Insider have revealed that Man Utd have ‘set their sights on a deal to sign’ Collins from Brentford with the centre-back impressing for Keith Andrews’ side.
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The report adds that Pochettino ‘is expected to strengthen his defensive options in the January transfer window, and work is being done to identify leading targets across the back line’ and that Brentford star Collins – who is reportedly valued at £55m – ‘ticks a number of boxes’.
Journalist Pete O’Rourke told Football Insider: “I can understand why Man United want Collins, he’s Premier League proven, he’s got great experience even though he’s still only 25.
“He’s captain of Brentford, captain of the Republic of Ireland as well so he’s got leadership qualities in that fact as well. Obviously Brentford won’t want to lose him.
“Man United are obviously going to be carrying out a major defensive overhaul in the next couple of transfer windows.
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“Nathan Collins would tick a lot of boxes, but as I said, Brentford won’t want to lose him. It just shows maybe that United are looking within the Premier League for reinforcements.”
Could Gusto end up at Man Utd too?
O’Rourke also thinks a potential deal for Chelsea defender Malo Gusto could be one to watch for Man Utd, he added: “I think it’d be one to watch. Again, it’s an area that United need to strengthen in the fullback positions.
“Diogo Dalot has come in for a lot of flack from fans for his performances. Obviously Pochettino will know Gusto from his time at Chelsea as well.
“But again, I think for United, I don’t think they could go out there and spend the type of money in January that probably Chelsea would demand for Gusto, so again, it looks like another difficult deal to do in this window.”
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