Toby Alderweireld - what he would bring to Manchester United and what it means for their defenders

It’s a strange sort of consistency at Man Utd in the transfer market – Toby Alderweireld’s potential arrival to Old Trafford would now make it the third summer in succession that a centre-half has been purchased.

Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof have been the other two to have been purchased during the other summers that Jose Mourinho has spent at Manchester United, and they have struggled to cement their slot in the starting XI.

Make no mistake, they’re quality defenders – Bailly is comfortably United’s most prized defender (barring Alderweireld’s arrival), and Lindelof has displayed his abilities with Sweden in the World Cup and on the odd occasion in United red in his first season.

Despite having the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League for two seasons, United’s other centre-halves are not at the level that Manchester United need at the heart of their team. The available options include Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof and Marcos Rojo.

Considering that Mourinho is systematically trimming the squad, with those recruited by predecessor Louis van Gaal at the top of the list, Marcos Rojo could potentially be sold, with Everton interested in the Argentine. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are a consistently worrying duo at the back. Bar their occasional purple patches, they are a liability, and walking disasters waiting to happen. They have the capability but nowhere near the consistency that is essential.

The relatively younger duo of Bailly and Lindelof, as mentioned above, are still raw and have a way to go to deal with their own issues, be it injuries in the Ivorian’s case and experience and time to adapt to a new league in the Swede’s case. Lindelof’s outings in the Premier League have been less than memorable, with a forgettable performance at the John Smith’s stadium. He impressed only occasionally.

The common factor with both of Jose Mourinho’s purchased centre-halves is that both the players at this stage in their respective careers would require playing alongside an experienced defender.

Lindelof, for instance, flourished in Russia playing alongside arguably one of the best defenders at the World Cup in Andreas Granqvist. The two Swedes built a formidable partnership at the heart of the national team. Bailly is a fearless tackler with a great reading of the space ahead of him, and in his case, was excellent at the start of the season, with Jones playing the deeper role in the two of them. The former Villareal man eventually met with injuries and missed almost the entire Premier League campaign from that point on.

Toby Alderweireld’s potential arrival will be the biggest addition to the backline in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. This is the closest that United have gotten to an elite, world-class defender who arguably is the best centre-half in the league when fit.

He has all the traits, experience and knowledge of the English top flight to lead the defence and be one of the fulcrums of the team, as he has evidently displayed at Tottenham. He can play the ball out and pick out a long-range pass with ease, he can allow the team to play a higher line whenever necessary, and has an air of authority and assurance around his when it comes to winning the ball back with a smart tackle or even in the air.

His move to United is something of a win-win-win situation for Manchester United, Tottenham as well as the player himself.

Turing 30 the coming March, it was only a matter of time before one of the best defenders in the league seeks a move away from a club whose super-progressive nature has yet to bear fruit in the form of silverware. Added to that is a considerable hike in wages for a player in his physical prime that Tottenham have clearly been against also works in the favour of a move to Old Trafford.

Tottenham Hotspur have had arguably one of the worst transfer windows in the league with them yet to make a single reinforcement to the squad (or for that matter, part with anyone). The North London club would be getting a fairly large amount for a 29-year-old defender on the last year of his contract (who can leave for a mere £25m next summer due to a clause in his contract) and this will offer young Davinson Sanchez the status of a sure shot first team player. The Mirror report that United are ready to offer a fee of £60m for the Belgian. This could potentially get their transfer window running, with just over four days left till the transfer window shuts.

It is also worth noting that Tottenham’s business could be so criminally stingy due to their move to the newly named ‘Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’.

Alderweireld can also be the defender that Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof can be mentored by, and would be the cornerstone of the defence. Lindelof is evidently comfortable on the ball and can bring the ball out the back, a trait that he shares with the former Atletico Madrid centre-half – and will benefit learning and improving this aspect of the Sweden International’s game.

Alderweireld’s signing also enables Mourinho with an added flexibility of playing different formations, as he also brings the experience of playing in a 3-man defence at Spurs as well as at an international level with Belgium.

United’s torrid summer can be, up to a degree, be salvaged by the signing of a truly elite player that will directly improve their first XI.