With the congested fixture list next season, a new centre-back should be near the top of Manchester United's priority list. Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have all had problems with injuries in the past, with the French centre-back most recently having to leave his national team training camp after suffering a hamstring injury.
The Manchester Evening News understands that Jurrien Timber was Erik ten Hag's main target for this position as he wanted to reunite with the defender at Old Trafford. Timber won Ajax's young player of the year last season and was a key reason why they won the title, being ever-present in the defence.
Timber seemed ready to make the move to Manchester, but over the international break a spanner was thrown into the works after Louis van Gaal suggested a move to United would be detrimental to the 21-year-old's chances of going to the World Cup in November if he did not play regularly.
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With players like Nathan Ake and Steven Bergwijn playing key parts in the current national team set-up, this seems like an empty threat given Timber could be considered one of the Netherlands' better options in defence. However, the player has seemingly been spooked by the suggestion and now looks likely to stay at Ajax. United fans are understandably annoyed at Van Gaal, especially as earlier in the year he also seemed to warn Ten Hag off taking the manager's job at United too.
However, this could be a blessing in disguise for United. Mike Verweij has reported that after their pursuit for Timber has seemingly ended, the club could change defensive targets and instead make a move for the Dutchman's partner in defence, Lisandro Martinez.
Martinez is also a short defender, so a lot of the doubts United fans have about Timber's aerial ability will transfer over, however, this is not a deal-breaking issue. The Argentinian is incredibly comfortable on the ball and can break through opposition lines either by carrying the ball or passing it.
He is also left-footed, which is something United fans have been crying out for over the past few seasons. Given that many of United's centre-back targets also share this trait, such as Pau Torres and David Carmo, this is something Ten Hag must feel is necessary as well.
This would allow Maguire or Varane to play on their much more natural right-hand side and act as the sitter while Martinez roams out challenging the opposition head-on. This would hopefully allow United to see the best of both of these players once again.
But most importantly he's a fighter. He duels 1 v 1 with attackers and more often than not comes out on top and United were missing a defender who can get the crowd on their feet last season; the security a player like that brings is invaluable.
He would likely cost more than Timber, but given the rest of the package, he seems like a much better signing for United. And hopefully, if he is brought in he can help Ten Hag hit the ground running.
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