Manchester United may yet do business before the window closes, after Michael Carrick left the door open to one final addition.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the Ipswich match, Carrick said United were still willing to move if the right chance emerged. \u201cWe\u2019re always open to it if there\u2019s something else to be able to add,\u201d Carrick added, \u201cso I wouldn\u2019t shut that down.\u201d With less than 48 hours left, attention has turned to where United might strengthen.<\/p>\n
The clearest need remains at left back. When Luke Shaw was withdrawn after a difficult 70 minutes against Ipswich\u2019s Abdul Fatawu, Carrick was forced to use right back Noussair Mazraoui on the opposite side. Beyond Shaw, the only natural left back on the senior books is 19-year-old Harry Amass, who was not even in the matchday squad.<\/p>\n
Alejandro Balde remains the headline name. The Barcelona defender is viewed as a major target, with his pace and stamina making him an obvious fit. He also has existing chemistry with Marcus Rashford from their time together in Catalonia. The obstacle is price. Barcelona want a permanent sale and have set a fee around $47.4 million (\u00a335 million), while United are said to prefer a loan.<\/p>\n
Another option is Jorge Salinas of Racing Santander. The teenager, who came through the academy at the newly promoted club, has drawn attention during their rise from Spain\u2019s second tier. Taller and more naturally a center back, he would offer a different profile to Balde and might suit a more flexible system. But his lack of top-flight experience makes him a risk.<\/p>\n
United\u2019s recent spending pattern may also matter. Almost 80% of the $487 million they have invested in new arrivals over the past two years has gone on players already proven in the Premier League. That would point toward Ian Maatsen, with Sky Sports News reporting an inquiry over the final hours of the window. The Aston Villa defender is adaptable, experienced and only 24, though Villa may be reluctant sellers and the move would not come cheaply.<\/p>\n
A forward signing is also possible if Joshua Zirkzee departs. Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko\u2019s injury record and Matheus Cunha\u2019s preference for a deeper role could leave United short of a central reference point. Alexander S\u00f8rloth is one player who fits that profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United could still move late, with left back and striker options under review before the window closes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,179],"tags":[242,180,182],"class_list":["post-18872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-manchester-united","tag-injury","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}