Reports: Manchester United set to bid for former Barcelona player

Smart move?

What’s the story

If reports from The Metro are to be believed, Jose Mourinho is keen on expanding his defensive options by bidding for Borussia Dortmund’s Marc Bartra.

Manchester United’s defence had been a source of bother towards the end of the last season owing to injuries and inconsistency. And the 13-time Premier League champions have for long been trying to find the right defensive partnership to bolster their defensive setup ever since Sir Alex Ferguson left.

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Marc Bartra is a Spanish international and has been capped by La Roja 12 times. The German side bought him last summer from Barcelona in a bid to try to fill the void left by the departure of the stoic and resourceful Mats Hummels. Since his move, he has appeared for Dortmund a total of 30 times with a goal and three assists to his name. 

Mourinho has already signed another centre back, Victor Lindelof, from Benfica earlier this summer to shore up the backline. 

The heart of the matter

With Bartra as the new addition, United can put their defensive woes to rest. The United defence had earlier looked likely to settle down halfway through the last season when the unlikely pairing of Marcos Rojo with Phil Jones/Eric Bailly turned out to be fruitful.

However, owing to Rojo’s subsequent injury, the unavailability of Jones and the unreliability of Chris Smalling, Bailly has been left to do the bulk of the work. United, thus, could certainly use reinforcements in their backline. Lindelof cost United around £31m. However, no disclosure regarding the transfer fee of Marc Bartra has been made yet.

The question of whether or not Marc Bartra has really stepped up to the herculean task of filling the void left by Mats Hummels at Borussia Dortmund remains largely unanswered. But Bartra has shown glimpses of stability, vision and relentlessness over the 30 appearances he made for the German side in a largely injury-stricken season.

Lindelof’s repertoire boasts of similar attributes as Bartra’s and with Champions League action returning to Old Trafford, the Red Devils will be more than keen to get quality reinforcements to make sure fatigue or injuries won’t tie them down next season.

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Author’s take

After having qualified for the Europe’s elite competition, the UEFA Champions League, Marc Bartra will undoubtedly be a welcome addition to the United squad. Manchester United have a number of options at the back following the signing of Victor Lindelof. But will look to have more quality that quantity with the club fighting on all fronts next season

The 19-year-old Axel Tuanzebe had been impressive in the four appearances he made in the last season. Jones, given he stays fit, is a worthy competitor for a spot in the starting eleven. Chris Smalling, meanwhile, may or may not be at Old Trafford next season. And then there is Bailly and Rojo. Thus, Batra, whilst being a quality addition, will have to know that he will have a real fight on his hands to knock down a regular spot.