Manchester United are set to battle Tottenham Hotspur to sign a young defender who has been compared to Raphael Varane by Jose Mourinho.
Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in Manchester United, the club has focused on signing young players for a low fee, rather than paying close to £100 million for older options.
This has continued this summer with Diego Leon joining Rúben Amorim’s first-team squad from Paraguay, as well as a number of youngsters joining the academy sides or being loaned out to sister-club Laussane-Sport.
While United already have a wealth of talent in the youth sides, Jason Wilcox and the transfer team are continually looking to bring in more exciting prospects to bolster the Red Devils in years to come.
United may have just found the next young player to add to their academy sides, as a central defender is needed for the under-21s side, with Jacob Devaney – a natural defensive midfielder – currently filling in alongside Daniel Armer.
United in the race for Akçiçek with Spurs
Yusuf Akçiçek is a young centre-back who currently plays for Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbache side in the Turkish top flight; he has already made 27 first-team appearances, despite being just 19 years old.
The former United manager even compared him to Raphael Varane and a player who will become “perfect” towards the back end of last season, and the Red Devils are now interested in signing him.
Sabah have reported that United and Tottenham Hotspur – two of Mourinho’s former sides – are among several clubs that have expressed an interest in signing the defender.
Akçiçek is a left-footed central defender with a good passing range and versatile enough to play at either left-sided centre-back or left-wing-back in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation.
The rumoured price tag of Akçiçek is just over £17 million, but United face further competition from Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan, as well as the previously mentioned Tottenham Hotspur.
Heaven and Kukonki make deal unnecessary
While a deal to sign Akçiçek would be exciting for United fans, another left-footed young central defender isn’t necessary with the talent already at the club, and funds could be better spent elsewhere.
Ayden Heaven – who is younger than the Fenerbache defender – has already proved he is a capable stand-in for Luke Shaw or Lisandro Martínez on the left side of defence, and he will only improve with time.
In Darren Fletcher’s under-18s side, there is also young Godwill Kukonki as a left-footed central defender. He has already been named on the bench for the senior side, but has yet to make an appearance for the club.
Signing another young centre-back for £17 million isn’t worth the price when United still need to sign a goalkeeper and potentially another midfielder before the end of the window.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.