Manchester United are reportedly considering a surprise move for a Chelsea star as they look to sign competition for injury-prone full-back Luke Shaw.
Shaw is currently on England duty at Euro 2024 but has only made one subsitute appearance having carried an injury he picked up for Manchester United last season into the tournament.
Not so Shaw
The 28-year-old missed 34 games last term and has had seven separate injury lay-offs in the last three seasons.
Tyrell Malacia, bought from Feyenoord as competition for Shaw at the start of the 2022/23 season failed to make a single appearance last term due to a knee injury, as manager Erik ten Hag was forced to use players out of position to cover the left side.
Malacia and Shaw should be fit for the coming season but new sporting director Dan Ashworth doesn’t want to risk a repeat of last season and wants to sign cover at left-back.
Marc Cucurella came close to moving to Old Trafford on loan last summer, but it’s fellow Chelsea star Ben Chilwell they now reportedly have their eye on.
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An injury-prone backup
An interesting choice given Chilwell is at least as fragile as Shaw, and wasn’t included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the Euros on the back of another injury-hit campaign.
But the Daily Mail claim Chilwell ‘is also among the options United are considering as they look for competition for Shaw’.
It’s claimed the Red Devils are close to to securing deals for Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee for a combined fee of around £80m as new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to put his stamp on the club.
And they’re also keen on signing Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte according yo Sport 1 journalist Christopher Michel, who wrote on X: ‘News Ugarte: #MUFC are now also pushing for this transfer. #PSG would like the 60 million euros previously paid, Manchester think a price of 42 million euros is realistic. The teams will probably meet in the middle, MUFC are optimistic.’