Surprise move: Man United agree transfer fee to sign”extraordinary” UCL winner
The Premier League is finally back, and after a lacklustre campaign last year, Manchester United got off to a perfect start this season with a 1-0 home win over Fulham.
Erik ten Hag’s side weren’t perfect, but they looked good, and there are undoubtedly positive signs on and off the pitch at the moment, which should leave fans feeling excited about the next ten months.
Moreover, the transfer window is still open for another week and, based on recent reports, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co are making moves to bring in even more talent before it closes.
One of the stars touted for a move to Old Trafford has won the Champions League within the last four seasons and has even won comparisons to Matthijs de Ligt.
Manchester United transfer news
According to a recent report from Spanish publication Sport, United are one of several clubs interested in Barcelona star Andreas Christensen.
Alongside the Red Devils, the report claims that Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are also keen on the Danish international, although the Magpies are supposedly struggling with financial issues, per the story.
The report claims that while Barça manager Hansi Flick wants to keep the talented defender in Spain this summer, an offer in the region of €25m, which converts to about £21m, would tempt the club into selling him.
It wouldn’t be a cheap deal, but given Christensen’s quality and experience, it might be one worth pursuing, especially as he’s been compared to De Ligt.
How Christensen compares to De Ligt
Okay, so the first thing to address is this comparison to De Ligt and where it comes from, for that matter.
It primarily stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, over the last 365 days, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for everyone, and from there, they have concluded that the Dutchman is the number one most similar centre-back to the Dane.
To get a better understanding of how they came to this conclusion, you can look at the various underlying numbers in which the pair rank very closely, including non-penalty expected goals plus assists, expected assists, progressive carries, passing accuracy, passes into the penalty area, tackles won, successful take-ons, ball recoveries and aerial duels won, all per 90.
However, it’s not just his statistical similarity to the Red Devils’ impressive new centre-back that would make the Barça ace an appealing signing; he’d also bring a lot of experience and know-how to a team that is going to see more youngsters involved as the INEOS revolution continues.
Despite still being just 28 years old, the “extraordinary” defender, as dubbed by former manager Xavi, has an incredible amount of experience. He’s made 93 appearances in the Premier League, 62 in the Bundesliga, 54 in La Liga, 44 in the Champions League and 20 in the Europa League.
His trophy cabinet is also seriously impressive; he’s won La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona, the Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Europa League, and Club World Cup with Chelsea.
Ultimately, while Christensen might not be the most exciting name on the market, he won’t cost an arm and a leg, has won comparisons to De Ligt and has bags of experience to boot. Therefore, United should look to bring him to Old Trafford this summer, as he’d surely help shore up their defence, even if only for a couple of years.
