Premier League 2018/19: Positions the Big 6 need to strengthen in January

#6 Manchester United: Central Defender

Manchester United have the financial muscle to sign the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly

As everyone knows, Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils are way off the pace at the top of the table; they currently sit in 6th place, but they’re 8 points away from Arsenal in 5th and a massive 16 points from the top. They’ve also conceded 26 goals – far more than any of the other top sides – while scoring less, too. But realistically, United still have the shell of a strong attacking side should their players hit form.

Their defence is a different story, though. The fact that Mourinho and Chief Executive Ed Woodward butted heads numerous times in the summer on this subject is no secret, but in hindsight it’s hard not to agree with Mourinho – the likes of Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof simply don’t look up to the job of helping United to a proper title challenge, and Mourinho shouldn’t have to play the likes of Scott McTominay out of position there either.

A move for Toby Alderweireld of Spurs – who is out of contract this summer – has been talked about plenty of times, and a recent report suggested that United have given Mourinho the “go ahead” to sign the player, but that assumes that Tottenham would be willing to sell the Belgian to a rival. If they can’t bring him aboard, then who else is available?

United are no strangers to splashing big money and so players like Kalidou Koulibaly or Harry Maguire remain in the realm of possibility – but it may not be as easy as it once was for the Red Devils to attract top players to Old Trafford. We shall see, but undoubtedly to make the top 5 this is the area that Mourinho needs to sort out.