According to claims from German source Sport1, Man United are interested in signing German international defender Niklas Sule from Bayern Munich in the summer.
The same report claims that Bayern are looking for a complete overhaul of their defensive options in the summer, with new signings Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard set to arrive at the Allianz Arena for a combined total of €115m.
Sule, who was a part of Germany’s squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, has established himself as a regular at the back for Bayern under manager Niko Kovac and has played a key role in his team’s surge for the Bundesliga title.
The 24-year-old has made a total of 26 appearances for the Bavarian giants in the league this term and has been an integral part of a backline that has conceded only 29 goals in 29 games, a defensive record that has only been bettered by RB Leipzig.
The German international rose through the youth system at Hoffenheim and carved out a reputation for himself as one of the hottest young defensive talents in the country. He spent four successful seasons at Hoffenheim before moving to giants Bayern Munich in the summer of 2017 and his stocks have continued to soar high ever since.
Man United’s interest in Niklas Sule comes as little surprise as the Red Devils do need to bring in a new centre-back in the summer to replace Eric Bailly, who looks set for an exit after falling out of favour.
Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have all looked quite solid and confident under Solskjaer but the Red Devils can certainly do with another top-quality centre-back, as Solskjaer looks to build a strong enough squad capable of challenging for the Premier League title.
Marcos Rojo is another player who seems to have no future at Old Trafford and United should look to accommodate fresh faces by getting rid of deadwood.
To put things into perspective, United are in need of strengthening their defensive options but Niklas Sule might not necessarily be a good choice. Agreed, he is currently one of the best in Germany but there is every possibility that he might struggle to adapt to the dynamic nature of the Premier League.
Another thing that should be mentioned here is that United are more in desperate need of new full-backs and signing a centre-back need not be a big priority this summer, as Solskjaer also needs to invest in other areas of the squad.
Standing at 6ft. 5 inches with a towering frame, Sule is an absolute giant of a centre-back who is noted for his physicality, aerial ability ball-playing ability and composure in possession, while also boasting of good game-reading abilities.
Although tackling is not one of his greatest strengths, the German is quite strong on the tackle and he knows how to use his long legs to good effect. He usually relies on his positional awareness to deal with the opposition’s attacks, staying deep inside his own half to clear the ball to safety.
However, two of the main drawbacks in his game are his lack of pace and inability to deal with fast, agile and fleet-footed attackers, something which should prompt United to drop their interest in him.
His lack of pace makes him a liability while playing in a high defensive line and his slow nature has been exploited to good effect by some of the opposing sides in the Bundesliga.
Solskjaer’s knack of tinkering with tactics combined with the possibility of new summer arrivals might see United play a high line in some of the Premier League games next season and Sule won’t be a good fit for a dynamic system. Moreover, Sule would hardly be an upgrade on the likes of Smalling, Lindelof and Jones.
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With that being said, United should look at other targets if they really want to bolster their backline in the summer.