Manchester United obviously need to strengthen their back line this summer with Vidic and Ferdinand having departed the club.
The stark reality is that, just like when Cristiano Ronaldo left the club, Manchester United will struggle to find players who are quite as good as Rio and Nemanja.
But they could do a heck of a lot worse than signing Borussia Dortmund man Mats Hummels.
And The Metro reports that they are about to make a fresh bid:
Manchester United will make a final push for Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels by offering £20million (25.1m Euros) for his services.
United have been trying to sign the 25-year-old for each of the last three transfer windows, but Dortmund are determined to hold on to one of their leading lights.
However, reports in Germany say new Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal has sanctioned one final push for Hummels, with a take-it-or-leave-it £20million offer set to go in before the end of this week.
It seems that Manchester United have made Hummels their top targets for the defence this summer. The 25 year-old has played 33 times for Germany and looks as safe as houses at the back.
While a few Manchester United fans may be a little underwhelmed by the idea of signing of Thomas Vermaelen few could argue if Hummels came to Old Trafford.
He’s a commanding defender who can do the ugly work well. But he also has really nice feet and offers great goal-threat from set pieces having scored 20 goals in just over 200 appearances a for the club.
The report suggests that the 20 million offer may be enough to see the deal going through.
We think that Louis van Gaal is trying to sign more than one central defender because he wants to play with three centre backs at Manchester United next season.
While it may take some time for the team to get used to it we think that the idea of using wingbacks could really suit players like Rafael Da Silva, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw.
But, to do this, Manchester United are going to require some commanding centre halfs and Hummels would certainly be classed in that category.
Let’s see the lad in action. Manchester United fans: happy with Hummels?
