According to reports, Manchester United have joined Chelsea in the race for Benfica right-back Nelson Semedo and although Jose Mourinho had reiterated that he is unlikely to sign in the January window, there is a possibility considering United’s position in the table and the apparent need to freshen things up in the 2nd half of the season.
Manchester United’s makeover under Jose Mourinho seems to be far from over. In fact, by the looks of it, things have just started. Jose Mourinho splashed the cash in the summer immediately upon his arrival, securing the signature of Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly and the free signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. While all of them seem to have settled now, the start wasn’t the best.
Pogba and Mkhitaryan put in extremely jittery displays and were heavily criticised. Ibrahimovic was an exception and other than a dull period in the middle, things have been going smoothly for him. Bailly started off well but a subsequent injury and then the AFCON has put his development at United on hold right now.
They have been linked with a number of central defenders even after signing Eric Bailly and with the dearth of apparent quality, it made sense initially. But a centre-back doesn’t seem to be the cause for concern of the Red Devils right now. The form of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo in central defence has probably persuaded manager Jose Mourinho that he does not need to buy. The Portuguese also has cover at centre-back in Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind.
But in the fullback areas, there seems to be cause for concern. Mourinho hasn’t been convinced by Darmian at right-back and with Fosu-Mensah deemed for makeshift versatile roles as of now, here is no conventional right-back as of now. Valencia has been excellent at times but Mourinho’s penchant for using specialists might get in the way of Valencia becoming a long-term right-back for United.
Hence, the rumours of the United having an interest in the attack minded Benfica right-back, Semedo, makes sense.
Semedo has spent his entire professional career at the Estadio da Luz, making 42 senior appearances for Benfica, and United are apparently ready to trigger his release clause.
At the age of 23, he has already established himself as one of the brightest prospects at right-back. His style has been likened to Dani Alves. A great dribbler and a really solid crosser of the ball, he is known to support the attack and push forward often. He has worked a lot on his defensive attributes lately and it is believed that Jose Mourinho can bring the best out of him.
United have shown that they are willing to back Jose Mourinho in the transfer market and this move seems like it might well be pulled off by the club.
