Assessing Manchester United's top three targets for 2019/20 season

In the starting of the last season, everybody had a lot of hopes from Manchester United. However, all the hopes were washed out by the mid-season. As Jose Mourinho was sacked due to the poor performances of the Red Devils and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as an interim manager. 

The Norwegian again increased the hopes of everybody as United were winning back to back games. Also, the second leg win against Paris-Saint Germain in the Champions League round of 16 made people believe that Solskjaer is the right choice for a permanent manager.

The club believed in Solskjaer as well. Hence, they appointed him as the new manager. However, once the Norwegian was appointed as the permanent manager. The player's performance went down drastically. United lost back to back Premier League games and were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona. 

At the end of the season, United finished in the sixth position in the Premier League and will feature in the Europa League next season. This was a major setback for a new manager because he wanted to build a new side and for that, he needed to sign big players. However, with no Champions League football next season. It is looking difficult for United to sign their preferred players. 

Nevertheless, United have already landed Daniel James from Swansea and Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace to Old Trafford. With these two good signings and a big name in the world of football. The Red Devils might succeed in buying a few more players before the closing of the summer transfer window. 

Here are the three major targets of United for the next season:

3) Gareth Bale

The Real Madrid winger is going to be a huge boost for United as the Old Trafford outfit are in dire need of a winger. 

Gareth Bale hasn’t been at top of his game in last few seasons with Los Blancos. Also, the Welshman doesn’t have a good relationship with Zinedine Zidane, which provides United a chance to sign him. 

Bale was benched in few games and youngsters were selected ahead of him under Zidane. Especially, the last game of La Liga last season that Madrid lost 2-0 against Real Betis. That happened because of his back to back injuries and drop in the performance. 

Also, the Real Madrid winger was quoted as saying on Radioestadio via SPORT: "I've got three years left on my contract. If they want me to go, they'll need to pay me €17m per season. If not, I'll stay here. And if I have to play golf, I will."

Such an attitude of Bale might see him shifting back to the Premier League soon. United, however, might have to overpay to land the Welshman to Old Trafford. 

2) Mario Lemina

Manchester United are in desperate need of a strong defensive midfielder as the performance of Nemanja Matic has hit an all-time low. 

The Red Devils are eyeing the Southampton midfielder, Mario Lemina as a possible replacement for the Serbian midfielder. Also, the Southampton player took over social media and shared his feelings of staying in the Premier League next season. This increased the chances of United signing the midfielder. 

Arsenal is the only other club interested in signing Lemina. For the Gunners, however, defense and wing are the priority areas and they have a relatively stacked midfield. Therefore, the Gabonese is more likely to land at Old Trafford than the Emirates. 

1) Harry Maguire

United have been linked with Harry Maguire for a long time now. The Red Devils aggressively pursued the Englishman last season, but they couldn’t come to agreeable terms with Leicester City. 

The Old Trafford outfit are in a great need of a strong center-back as both Phil Jones and Chris Smalling failed miserably in the defensive line last season. The addition of Maguire in the current roster of United will provide them stability at the back. Standing at 6’4”, he is also an aerial threat from corners and set pieces.

According to The Sun, both United and Leicester have reached the agreement for landing the Englishman at Old Trafford. The Red Devils have agreed to pay £60million up front with £20m in add-ons.

This will be a brilliant signing for United as they were facing a lot of issues at the back. Victor Lindelof and Maguire will create a good defensive pair and hopefully, they will work hard together and help United in competing for the Premier League title.