Man Utd still looking to complete one transfer with Gary Neville in ‘shock’
Dutch side Willem II are attempting to seal a deal for talented Man Utd youngster Chido Obi before the transfer deadline in the Netherlands, according to reports.
The Red Devils had an extremely quiet transfer deadline day with no notable ins or outs at Old Trafford as Michael Carrick stuck with his current squad.
Man Utd had already brought in Andrey Santos (£48m, Chelsea), Karl Darlow (free, Leeds United), Youri Tielemans (£35m, Aston Villa), Tynan Thompson (£8m, Tottenham) and Carlos Baleba (£65m, Brighton) this summer.
There was an underwhelming feeling after the deadline with many supporters expecting the club to sign a left-back and perhaps a striker, if Joshua Zirkzee left.
But there could still be one deal on Wednesday with Willem II pushing to get a deal for Man Utd striker Obi over the line.
Voetbal International report: ‘Willem II is trying to bring Manchester United talent Chido Obi to Tilburg. The young striker was considered a huge talent in Arsenal’s youth academy and may get the chance to develop further in the Eredivisie.
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‘At the table, a comparison is immediately made with Alexander Isak, who broke through at Willem II years ago. Can Obi make a similar kind of impact in Tilburg?’
The Athletic‘s Laurie Whitwell also had the same information, he wrote: ‘Willem II are in talks about a loan move for Manchester United striker Chido Obi.
‘The 18-year-old could be heading for a campaign in the Eredivisie to get regular senior minutes.
Whitwell added: ‘The next step in his development would be to get consistent game-time at first-team level and Willem II have made a proposal.
‘Obi, a Denmark Under-21 international, also had interest from Dutch side Feyenoord earlier in the window.’
No defender signings baffles Man Utd legend Neville
Speaking before the transfer window closed, Gary Neville was shocked that Man Utd hadn’t already signed at least one defender.
Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast: “I know they’ve done it in quite a measured fashion: the forward line last year, the midfield this summer, but I do feel that when you go into the Champions League and you’ve got an uncertain defence in the sense that a couple of them are injury-prone and they’re likely to get injured.
“I always think pessimistically… I always imagine if you’ve lost two defenders, what are you like you know what’s your strength in depth like?
“And I think that for the top clubs that are playing in the Champions League, you’ve got to imagine what happens if Luke Shaw gets injured? That’s going to cause a real problem.
READ: Man City respond to Man Utd deadline day enquiry for surprise left-back transfer
“What happens if Harry Maguire gets injured? You’ve got a real problem. So I always imagine: just take your two most dominant defenders out for two months simultaneously, which can happen, and you’re playing Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you’re going to concede goals, and you’re going to lose football matches.”
Neville added: “So I just would have liked to have seen Manchester United bring in a left back and a centre-back to advance the money from next season’s budget into this season and just make sure Michael Carrick is covered.
“Because he would have a real problem if he was playing with Heaven and Yoro at centre-back or Yoro at right back or Mazraoui at left back for a long time; it’d be a problem.
“So I’ve said quite simply that I think that it would have been sensible to strengthen that back line this summer just with one or two, maybe not the four that is needed, but just one or two to make sure they don’t get left short.
“So it’s not ideal. I’m shocked that Manchester United haven’t put at least one defender in. It would be perfect if they could find a left-sided centre-back that could play left back, but those players don’t tend to exist as much anymore.
“Somebody like that would have been perfect, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. There’s no real noise coming out of Old Trafford.”
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