Manchester United's lack of an elite centre back pairing has been a thorn in their proverbial side ever since the departure of club legends Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić
Yet the club's recent links to certain defenders to solve their defending woes has drawn criticism from waves of irate fans on Twitter.
Roma centre-back Kostas Manolas is just the latest player to be linked, according to Calciomercato, with a move to the Theatre of Dreams, but this has been labelled a 'cut-price move' widely online.
The 27-year-old Greek international reportedly has a £31.5 million release clause in his contract and is keen to force a move if Roma fail to qualify for the Champions League.
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Some fans aren't happy with the plan to sign Manolas though:
United's defending issues are well documented and for a time were stop-gapped by Eric Bailly until he fell out of favour under José Mourinho and this problem has now fallen in the lap of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Rojo and Valencia are supposedly out the door this summer as part of an overhaul of United's defence that currently consists of Lindelöf, Smalling, and Jones amongst others, not entirely awe-inspiring compared to the other top six clubs.
With the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Matthijs de Ligt and Toby Alderweireld all reportedly available this summer United fans feel that they should be chasing the next 'mega-signing' to fortify their defence, and if that means breaking a record the fans clearly want the club to pull the trigger.
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You only have to look to Liverpool and how their defensive fortunes have been transformed since the signing of van Dijk for £75m, the record for a defender, which proves that spending 'megabucks' on a defender can be justified.
Describing Manolas as 'cut-price' appears harsh considering he's established himself as one of the better defenders in Europe, is this fair from the fans or is he not good enough for United? Let us know in the comments.
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Words by George Buksmann
Topics: Football News, ed woodward, Manchester United, Serie A, Transfer stories, Transfer rumours, Italian Football, Roma, Premier League, Transfer news
