Manchester United are leading the race to sign Bayern Munich defender Noussair Mazraoui but it appears as though the Bundesliga side already have a replacement lined up if he does arrive at Old Trafford this summer.
Erik ten Hag’s side have already made two additions this summer, with the arrivals of Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee and starlet centre-back Leny Yoro set to prove mightily helpful in their bid to climb up the table after a torrid Premier League campaign last year. Their eighth-place finish almost put the Dutchman out of a job but his side’s 2-1 win in the FA Cup final at Wembley over rivals Manchester City meant a new lease of life and with the arrival of new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, there’s been a dramatic shift already at the club.
Inconsistency in the defensive line last season mainly due to injuries has meant that upgrades were needed, and with Yoro already in the squad for the club’s preseason tour of the US, attention has now turned to who will be joining him. The next man through the door could well be Mazraoui, and it is believed that, following talks with Man United over the last few days, he has stopped negotiations with West Ham over the past 24 hours.
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That means United are said to be in front with the reported initial fee of ÂŁ13.5m plus ÂŁ3m in add-ons from the Hammers’ deal. The 26-year-old made 29 appearances in all competitions for Bayern last season but struggled with muscle fibre injuries on top of his participation with Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations. And whilst it was an underperforming campaign from their usual gold-star standards, Mazraoui isn’t a slouch by any means.
He has won four domestic titles – three in the Netherlands and one in Germany – and is a World Cup semi-finalist back in 2022, meaning he’d be a brilliant pickup for United at such a low price in today’s market. On top of all of that, Bayern may be willing to part ways with him easily given that they already have a backup waiting in the wings.
But using Macro Footballâs player impact tool, which uses analytics to understand a playerâs seasonal impact to see which players in European football’s top five leagues are most similar to their characteristics, Bayern defender Josip Stanisic ranks in the top five most similar players.
He has returned to Bayern after a successful loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen last season meaning they already have the replacement in-house. The 24-year-old’s stellar season under Xabi Alonso’s double-winning side has seen interest in him go through the roof, having broken through into the starting XI at his loan club midway through the season.
Stanisic became a vital part of their title-winning campaign, even scoring against his parent club in a 3-0 win back in February before nodding in a key 97th-minute equaliser against Borussia Dortmund in late April to help Leverkusen secure their first ever domestic title.
He also provided the 97th-minute winner against AS Roma in the Europa League semi-final, while having provided two assists against Roma in the first leg and West Ham in the quarter-finals. He ended with 10 goal contributions for the season, most of which came while playing on the right hand side of defence.
Interestingly, the most similar player to Mazraoui according to his characteristics is Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol, who impressed in his first Premier League season under Pep Guardiola after a ÂŁ77.6m move last summer. If Mazraoui can have a similar impact under Ten Hag, they’ll have bagged a bargain.
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