Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Manchester United in the summer has hardly been anything special. Has the ‘Special One’ lost his charm? Or, does he need time to prove himself as a worthy successor to Sir Alex Ferguson, something both David Moyes and Louis van Gaal tried and failed to do? Only time will tell but Manchester United gotta give him time. They do not have any other option, to be honest!
One thing that has let Mourinho and the Red Devils down this season is United’s defensive displays for which Mourinho has even gone public in criticising his stoppers. We understand the reasons of his frustration, though. A Jose Mourinho side has to have a solid defence and that has not been the case at Old Trafford and we can assure you that the former Chelsea gaffer will try everything he can to change this.
As per a report by talkSPORT recently, Mourinho has targeted Lazio defender Stefan de Vrij as a potential solution to his team’s defensive woes. The report claims that the player is unhappy in Rome right now and has made the club know that he is looking for a way out in summer. Manchester United seem to be his preferred destination and we believe that this could be a brilliant deal for the Red Devils.
De Vrij got his football education from the famed football academy of Feyenoord and broke into the first team at a very young age. He made as many as 154 appearances for the club before leaving for Lazio in 2014. He showed how talented defender he is in Eredivisie and was a top target of a number of cash-rich clubs back then but chose Lazio and it was indeed a good decision as he could grow enormously in Italy which he did.
A full international since 2012, De Vrij has earned 30 caps for the Netherlands. He was in the Dutch team which finished third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and was selected for the Team of the Tournament. The best thing about de Vrij’s game is his concentration and ability to read the game. He is an intelligent defender and hardly needs to do the dirty work.
With his frame of 6’2″, the Dutchman is strong in the air which is well-reflected from his 1.3 aerial duels won every game this season. The 24-year-old has made as many as 1.6 tackles, 2.8 interceptions and 3.3 clearances every game this season which is excellent. Now coming to his passing abilities, de Vrij has an eagle-eye for picking out a pass and finding his teammates. He has 83.3% passing accuracy this season while playing 5.3 long passes every game.
Mourinho has not been happy with any of the Manchester United defenders this season apart from Eric Bailly. De Vrij is just 24 now and his best days are well ahead of. This would be a hell of a deal if it does go through.
