Manchester United are certainly in a bit of a funk. They are currently lying in twelfth place in the Premier League, losing three in their opening eight domestic fixtures.

A big issue United have had has come in their midfield.

In the last two transfer windows The Red Devils have lost central midfielders Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini without replacing the experienced pair.

Juan Mata doesn’t have the legs to dictate things in the middle of the park, Nemanja Matic has been out of form since returning from injury and Paul Pogba has had problems with his ankle.

A lot of emphasis has been put on youngsters Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira. They’ve done reasonably well but they’re still raw and need more time to become established top flight stars.

The Daily Mail have reported that Antonio Conte could be interested in bringing Matic to Inter Milan. If that deal does indeed happen then United will definitely have to bring in a new defensive midfielder.

The Sun have suggested that West Ham United’s Declan Rice could be the Old Trafford side’s main transfer target.

Personally I believe United could be better served going to Leicester City and making a move on their Nigerian international Wilfred Ndidi.

United spent big in the summer bringing in The Foxes centre half Harry Maguire. Ndidi is just as important to Brendan Rodgers side, in my opinion. He’s a big reason why Leicester haven’t really missed Maguire so far this term.

In the Premier League this season, no player has averaged more than Ndidi’s 3.7 interceptions per game and only Man Utd’s Aaron Wan Bissaka averages more than Wilfred’s 5 tackles per top flight game (Stats via Whoscored).

These strong defensive stats are usual for Ndidi since his arrival from Genk in 2016 to replace world class holding midfielder N’Golo Kante.

His passing success rate is up at 83%, which is higher than Pereira, McTominay, Pogba and Matic.

Ndidi is also very good in the air and wins plenty of aerial battles. That is great if you’re protecting a backline. It’s a quality that gets overlooked but if you are winning headers and interceptions before it reaches the defence you’re protecting you defence and getting the ball to your attack in a quicker fashion.

United really need that kind of protection in their engine room!

Wilfred is still just twenty-two years old, yet he’s an established Premier League player that consistently does a superb job for his team.

The problem in getting him is that The Foxes might not be willing to sell such an important cog in their team. In 2018, Leicester City announced that they had tied Ndidi down to a contract till 2024.

That means The Foxes will hold all the cards in any potential deal for the player. They showed in their sale of Maguire that they won’t be bullied and can hold out for a premium price. Surely they would do the same with Wilfred.

Now the same can be said of West Ham regarding Declan Rice.

This is the issue Manchester United now have. Teams know that they are in a slump and will be desperate for certain targets and they will hold The Red Devils to ransom.

All that being said, Wilfred Ndidi would certainly improve Man United in my opinion!

Posted on October 13th, 2019 by scott
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