Should Man Utd’s top-six rivals be worried by the Jerome Boateng rumours?

Manchester United’s search for a centre-back has led them to look at Bayern Munich icon Jerome Boateng.

The German international has had a rough year, where he underperformed for the Bavarians before going on to be one of the worst performers at the 2018 FIFA World Cup as defending champions Germany crashed out in the group stages.

United may well view Boateng as the answer to their defensive woes, but Bayern have been semi-actively trying to offload Boateng all summer, and so a few of the Premier League’s top six are looking at him with keen eyes. There could be competition for the 29 year-old.

But how does Boateng stack up to the best defender from the Premier League’s top six? Would he be a worthy signing? And how about Manchester United’s other centre-back targets? Is he the best available option amid United’s main targets? We had a look!

Boateng

Looking at Boateng himself, injury wrecked his 2017/18 season, meaning that he ended up playing just 1,644 minutes. Nowhere near the totals he expects of himself. As a result we’ve had to look at the production in terms of per-90 minutes, so to make a comparison fair.

Boateng made a reasonable 2.7 clearances p-90 for Bayern last season, and also managed to intercept 1.1 passes p-90 and block 0.7 shots p-90. He was constantly active defensively, winning 80% of his tackles and committing just 0.8 tackles p-90. He has also been secure with the ball at his feet, putting up a pass success rate of 67.12% – none of these are breathtaking numbers, but they also represent Boateng at his worst – so how do they stack up?

The Top Six

So how does Boateng stack up to the top six Premier League sides’ best defender, based on last season? When it comes to Nico Otamendi at Manchester City, the answer is not very well. The Argentine defender bests Boateng in nearly every category, notably making 3.7 clearances p-90 and posting a whopping 85.66% pass success rate as he held City’s defence together as they romped to the title.

Virgil Van Dijk split the season between Southampton and Liverpool, putting up quality numbers wherever he played. Playing for two sides so comfortable on the back foot, Van Dijk made a colossal 6.27 clearances p-90 and stayed ahead of opponents with 1.88 interceptions p-90; and was a major reason Liverpool finaly made the Champions League final.

Boateng can’t hold up to Van Dijk, but fares a little better when held up against Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger. Boateng’s compatriot put up 3.89 clearances p-90, but was mostly lagging behind elsewhere with just 0.54 blocks, 0.92 interceptions and a pass success of just 58.91%.

Shkokdran Mustafi at Arsenal offers a unique point of comparison because the Gunners’ hapless nature actually provided him with constant action as a defender. Mustafi made a huge 6.77 clearances and 2.26 interceptions (both p-90) whist totting up 1.03 fouls.

United’s own Eric Bailly actually played less than Boateng, clocking in at 1000 minutes. As with Mustafi, his side ceding initiative to rivals allowed him to rack up impressive numbers. Bailly effected 5 clearances p-90 as well as 2.25 interceptions. Though true to Mourinho’s style of play he completed just 33.03% of his passes. Both Bailly and Mustafi are similar defenders to Boateng with more athleticism.

United’s Other Targets

The final top six centre-back is also one of United’s other centre-back targets, Spurs’ Toby Alderweireld. The Belgian is actually Mourinho’s preferred choice, but the United board are somewhat understandably hesitant to spend £60m on a 29 year-old who has played 50 games in just one of his previous five seasons; no matter how world-class he may be.

Alderweireld’s numbers are, like Boateng, a defender at his worst. He played just 1,177 minutes as injury and Mauricio Pochettino’s hard line on players unwilling to renew their contract conspired to hold him back. He made 3.82 clearances p-90, but only made 0.31 interceptions. He did complete 60.03% of his passes and 68% of his tackles, however. He is a clearly superior defender to the German.

Yerry Mina is another of United’s targets, but this was always a strange one. Mina has put up good numbers and would fit Mourinho’s system, but even things like his 3.9 clearances p-90 or 1.5 interceptions p-90 have to be coloured by the fact that he played just 370 minutes in La Liga last season. He would represent a big risk, even compared to Boateng, but has a huge upside.

United’s final target is the colossal Harry Maguire. The Englishman is mostly a target because of his excellent World Cup, but he was actually superb for Leicester all last season too. The Sheffield lad played every single minute in the league, all 3420, and so his 4.63 clearances, 1.26 interceptions and 0.74 blocks (all p-90) are very impressive. Maguire would cost a fortune and has none of the experience Boateng would bring, but with a bit of vision and some great coaching it’s easy to see something truly special lurking underneath that gigantic head of his, and so he would offer something that Boateng cannot: hope for the future.

The post Should Man Utd’s top-six rivals be worried by the Jerome Boateng rumours? appeared first on Squawka News.

From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2OLNwL5