Manchester United could be in the market for a young centre-back next year as reports suggest Benfica’s Antonio Silva has emerged on the club’s radar.
According to the Mirror, Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo have both spoken highly of the 19-year-old defender and put him forward as a recommended signing.
United face competition from La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid for Silva, who is emerging as one of Europe’s highest-rated defenders.
One of the main talking points from Fernando Santos’ Portugal squad for the World Cup was the inclusion of Benfica’s teenage centre-back, as well as the omission of PSG midfielder Renato Sanches.
Silva’s call came as a strange one because Santos is renowned for refusing to experiment with young centre-backs. His performances this season make Santos’ decision less controversial than not picking Sanches.
Silva has a release clause worth £57m in his current deal at Benfica and he has made 17 appearances this season, scoring 3 goals which is pretty impressive for a centre-back.
On top of that, Benfica are unlikely to sanction Silva’s departure for a nominal price, so clubs like United will have to pay a premium to sign the player.
Erik ten Hag reportedly wants to sell Harry Maguire in the summer before finding a replacement to provider greater competition to Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane. As we’ve seen over the past two seasons, it would be stupid to remain so over-reliant on Varane when it looks like he is going to keep picking up injuries.
For that reason, signing a player like Silva makes perfect sense for United.
It we be good to have a good defender