It has been widely rumoured that Manchester United are interested in bringing Mats Hummels to Old Trafford; suggested to be the club’s top defensive target.
The World Cup winner, who is also a previous Champions League finalist, is the current captain of Borussia Dortmund, and would be a signing of ‘marquee’ status, with a suggested price tag upwards of €40 million.
Although many United fans are sceptical of how he would cope in the fast-paced Premier League, Hummels is a leader and has great experience – the first of these attributes being something the Red Devils need to bring to their back four.
However, even before an official bid has been tabled by United, Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc has suggested that Mats will remain at the Signal Iduna Park for the 2015-16 season. “It was legitimate that Mats was thinking about his future, but I always pointed out that we plan with him,” he said.
With Jurgen Klopp’s departure as manager imminent, it is thought that some of Dortmund’s key players will be leaving the club too, possibly being easier to persuade than if Klopp were still to be in charge. Ilkay Gundogan is subject to interest from Manchester United as well as Barcelona and Bayern Munich, whilst Marco Reus is being monitored by clubs across Europe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s services are also sought after.
There were suggestions in the last couple of weeks that United had agreed terms with Gundogan, who plays in a central defensive midfield role, and would be hoped to eventually take the reins from Michael Carrick. However, nothing more has been said and the situation will probably be kept under wraps until the official opening of the transfer window.
Something which has been hinted at is that if Gundogan were to leave the German side, Hummels would be kept for at least one more season so as to offer enough solidarity for the team to push on and mount another serious challenge for Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga crown.
Hummels is a ball-playing centre back – something which Louis van Gaal is very keen on having in his ranks – as we have seen with his liking for Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. However the towering German did sign a contract extension at the start of this season so the pursuit for him may be over.
The two other suggested defensive targets for United are Nicolas Otamendi of Valencia and Aymeric Laporte of Athletic Club – both of whom would probably come with fees of a similar stature to that of Mats Hummels
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