Manchester United’s left-back crisis this season has been well-documented and is a major reason why they have struggled to string results together.
Luke Shaw’s injury record rang alarm bells but Tyrell Malacia missing pretty much the entire season came as a shock.
Therefore, it is not a surprise to see that left-backs are starting to get linked to United for the upcoming summer window.
Ben Jacobs has revealed that of the names being mentioned, the one that stands out is Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez.
Jacobs said that United are “big fans” of Kerkez and have already started scouting him, although they are not the only Premier League side to do so.
Chelsea are alongside United in the race to sign the Hungarian fullbacks who, at 20, only joined Bournemouth last summer.
However, he has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water, making 19 league appearances as he has become one of the faces of Andoni Iraola’s youth revolution on the south coast.
His age profile would make him perfectly suited to slot in between Malacia and Shaw, while also allowing Dalot to remain effective as the first-choice right-back.
As a genuine overlapping threat, Kerkez could be a key cog in the United system where they have been extremely reliant on Shaw’s ball-progression qualities.
Kerkez’s left-footedness would also give Ten Hag another player in that backline who can use those angles to his advantage, something which has been missing a lot this season due to Lisandro Martinez and Shaw’s absence.
They will have to fight off competition from Chelsea but United could have an upper hand, considering Chilwell is the undisputed first-choice there, while Shaw’s injury concerns make it possible for Kerkez to usurp him.
The only stumbling block for this deal could be Bournemouth’s potential asking price for a player who only joined last summer and has since gone from strength to strength in the league.
