Almost Done – Manchester United Close To COMPLETING Signing Of €32m CB

Recent report coming from Spain are stating that Manchester United are 80% done in completing the deal for a highly talented French youngster Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao. The Red devils were thought to be having a stiff battle from the likes of Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal for the 20 year old signature but if the reports are anything to go by, the player is on his way to Old trafford.

Although Arsenal were rumoured to be favoured to land the 20 year old it seems the Red Devils are in Pole Position to land the 20 year old in what is rumoured to be worth €32 million. The French defender is said to be one of those in Louis Van Gaal shopping list as he plans to add more quality to the defence.

It would be interesting to also note that Laporte is a Manchester United fan and this would help greatly during negotiations and contract talks. For many fans who do not know who Aymeric Laporte is, Aymeric Laporte is a 20 year old strong centre-back who could also be deployed as a left-back and has become an undisputed starter under new coach Ernesto Valverde at Athletic Bilbao. The 6 feet 2 inches centre-back is seen as one of the most exciting centre-backs around to watch and is famed for his tackling and positional sense.

This season, he has won an average of 57% duels and a 59% interceptions. As young as Aymeric Laporte may be, he does not shy away from challenges and definitely has an eye to win tackles. Aymeric Laporte played impressively during the 2013/2014 season at Athletic Bilbao which saw him earn a call-up to the French World Cup squad. As a United fan, after reading about rumours linking Manchester United to the young defender, I took time to read about the youngster and watch a couple of videos on YouTube and frankly I was impressed by what I saw.

As Louis Van Gaal plans to re-shape our defence by bringing in new defenders, it is also important to note that a couple of our below-par defenders have to go starting with Johnny Evans and Chris Smalling. The likes of McNair and Blackett still have alot to learn and can consequently be loaned out till they get better experience.

If fresh talent have to be injected into the squad, the bad or average ones have to be removed out of the Squad and frankly players like Johnny Evans who I still do not know how he plays for Manchester United should be shown the exit door this window and the same should go for Chris Smalling. After the exit of Ferdinand and Vidic, Evans should be our top-rated centre-back after playing with the pair a lot of times but Evans has deteriorated as a defender and his game is riddled with mistakes.

New and promising talents like Aymeric Laporte should be surrounded with equal talented individuals so his talent can blossom into something great. The deal for Aymeric Laporte given his statistics and season performances should be exciting and will add quality to the Manchester United defence which is currently lacking quality.