According to reports, former Premier League Champions Leicester City are on the verge of losing out on their chance to sign Manchester United centre half Chris Smalling as West Bromwich Albion come increasingly close to get the 27-year-old from under their nose. The English defender has had a difficult season with United last term with the side unlikely to see him in their plans in the coming season.
The arrival of Eric Bailly last summer and Victor Lindelof in this one has kept Smalling way below in the pecking order for Jose Mourinho. With the World Cup coming up next season, the former Fulham man would be looking for first team chances and that is hardly possible at Old Trafford now.
After their title winning season in the Premier League in 2015, Leicester’s defence saw themselves wearing out way too easily against most sides. Consequently, the Foxes ended up conceding 63 goals in 36 games giving the club enough to ponder upon the future of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan. The aged backline clearly couldn’t compete with the fast nature of the league anymore and Claudio Ranieri’s modified tactics further made matter worse.
The arrival of Craig Shakespeare did better the situation to some extent as he scraped off the high line tactic and the Foxes were comfortable to defending in numbers. The next target for them is sure to get into the European tournament again and their buy of Harry Maguire indicates that they are willing to go for the high octane play again next season.
And Smalling’s pursuit makes sense because his pace alongside the towering Maguire would bring a perfect balance to the side behind the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Daniel Amartey and more. Smalling excels in passing the ball up front, and he would get a perfect cover in Maguire who likes to sit deep.
Apart from that in Smalling, Shakespeare would get huge experience in a 27-year-old. Since moving to Old Trafford back in 2010, Smalling has appeared for over 200 games for the Red Devils, becoming a starter for Sir Alex Ferguson at the back. He won two Premier League under him.
At 194cm, Smalling is also quite strong in aerial duels and has scored 13 goals for United, mostly from set-pieces. However, Smalling has been capped just 31 times for the national team so far, since making his debut back in September 2011. Young stars like Michael Keane, Ben Gibson and others are taking over, and his experience could be really handy for Gareth Southgate if he steps up.
