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Exclusive: Luke Chadwick urges Manchester United to bolster defensive options

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 01 October 2020

Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick admits that the club need to significantly bolster their defensive line before they can consider challenging Liverpool.

Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick has told Sports Mole that the club need to bring in defensive reinforcements if they are to stand any chance of catching champions Liverpool.

Donny van de Beek is still the only new arrival at Old Trafford with just a matter of days left until the deadline for signing players from abroad.

Many of United's rumoured targets have been attacking players, including the likes of Jadon Sancho, Ousmane Dembele and Edinson Cavani, but Chadwick believes that better defensive options are also needed if they are to close the gap on Liverpool.

The Red Devils have been heavily linked with Porto left-back Alex Telles but reports have suggested that they will not move for a centre-back this summer, instead choosing to wait for Dayot Upamecano next year.

"I think the defensive issues are a problem. You watch Liverpool play and the way they press so high... I don't think United can do that and be successful like that because I'm not sure the players completely trust the back four and the defensive players," Chadwick told Sports Mole.

"Obviously Liverpool - [Sadio] Mane, [Mohamed] Salah press as high as they can and they look behind them and see Virgil van Dijk stood there, which obviously gives them huge confidence. I don't think Manchester United are in that position at the moment. Saying that, there aren't many centre-halves like Virgil van Dijk out there for them to go and get.

"I think it needs reinforcements in the back-four area. I think the left-back is being spoken about a lot from the Portuguese boy (Telles), who looks a fantastic player. Luke Shaw's a great player, but it's whether he stays fit for the whole season, he's obviously had his issues there.

"So I think a couple of players in the defensive line are a must, and Sancho if the club want to compete for the top two spaces. If they're happy to compete in the Champions League and sneak in the top four then they could well have enough in the building at the moment, but I don't think that's going to appease the fans and it's not going to appease a football club like Manchester United that needs to be competing to win those top, top trophies."

Chadwick also expressed his belief that Sancho could go on to emulate United legends such as George Best, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo if he ends up moving to Old Trafford.

Watch the full episode of the podcast here: