Man United must drop Sancho transfer and make centre back a priority, says Rio Ferdinand as he slams ‘terrible’ defence
MANCHESTER UNITED should put the Jadon Sancho transfer on hold and sort out the ‘terrible’ defence, says club legend Rio Ferdinand.
Ole Gunnar Solksjaer‘s side made a miserable start to the new Premier League season with a 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.
Victor Lindelof in particular came in for criticism for his performance, with captain Harry Maguire also slammed in some quarters.
And Ferdinand believes the back-line should be the ‘priority’ – even pushing back United’s long pursuit of Sancho.
Speaking to BT Sport ahead of United’s trip to Brighton, the 41-year-old said: “There’s no point showing them the Palace game back to help them, they’ve been like that in the Europa League semi final, the FA Cup semi final. Nothing changes.
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“It was terrible to see. As a centre-back you need to have the ability to smell danger and they never had it.
“This was an area I’ve been mentioning for many months. It’s still not been addressed.
“I want Jadon Sancho, he’s a generational talent but the centre back position should be a priority over anywhere else in the transfer window.”
SunSport has exclusively revealed that United are planning at least two more signings this window.
But a centre-half is not believed to be one of them.
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SunSport understands the club are looking to land both Sancho and Alex Telles within the coming weeks.
And Solskjaer, chief exec Ed Woodward and transfer guru Matt Judge are in constant discussions to get the deals over the line.
United are believed to be confident of landing Sancho, with a £90million offer to Borussia Dortmund in the works.
The 20-year-old England winger is keen on a move to Old Trafford, but will not force through a transfer.
Meanwhile, the club are in talks with Porto over a swoop for Telles, with Porto demanding around £18m.
However, the Red Devils are reluctant to pay that much for a 27-year-old left-back in the final year of his contract.
It is understood United have had more than 15 players proposed to them by agents in the past week alone.