This summer is bound to be an important one for Man United and its new part-owners, the INEOS group, fronted by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
There are some huge decisions to be made, not least whether the club will retain the services of Dutchman, Erik ten Hag, as the first-team manager.
Regardless of if he stays or goes, the squad needs a makeover, and whilst that doesn’t necessarily need to be in the form of a fire sale, some long-overdue changes are required.
Man United have looked at Giorgio Scalvini on a number of occasions
Defensively, the Red Devils have struggled for long periods of this season, and it’s quite remarkable that they’re in with a chance of making their second successive FA Cup final as well as still being able to finish in a Champions League berth if results go their way.
Ten Hag has never really been able to have a settled central defence owing to injuries to key players and loss of form.
Harry Maguire was way out of the picture in August but played his way back into the starting XI at the expense of Raphael Varane.
Lisandro Martinez’s comeback from injury was short-lived, and whilst Victor Lindelof is solid enough, bringing in at least one new centre-back might not be the worst idea in the world.
So it’s interesting to note that United have scouted a Serie A star on multiple occasions already.
“Recently I was informed that in the past few weeks scouts from Manchester United were present in Italy to watch Atalanta central defender Giorgio Scalvini on multiple occasions,” transfer expert, Matteo Moretto said in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside.
“He’s a profile that they like, there are other teams in England that also like him, and Manchester United clearly have a shortlist of various options in terms of central defenders, but Scalvini is on it.
“They have to make a decision on who exactly to go to for, but they like Scalvini and they think he is an important talent. In terms of how much he’ll cost – this is opinion rather than information – I’d estimate at somewhere between €30-40m.”
Whilst there’s plenty of toing and froing to be done before the transfer window even opens for business, the fact that United have looked at the player a number of times suggests a diligence that’s perhaps been missing over the last 12-18 months.
Time will tell if Scalvini makes his way to Old Trafford or not.