In addition to other transfer rumors, Manchester United “plan to sign a defender as a duo sold”

Erik ten Hag has identified four areas to improve, with a focus on bringing in younger players to balance the team’s age composition. Central defense is one of those areas. Both Raphael Varane and Maguire are 30 years old. Varane is having a difficult season due to a number of nagging ailments that have kept him out for various periods of time, notably against Brentford on Saturday.

Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen was a target in the summer when United anticipated that Maguire would depart, and Goncalo Inacio of Sporting CP has also been mentioned as a target. Football Insider, however, says that money will have to be raised through sales, with McTominay and Maguire both potentially leaving.

Even though West Ham United showed a lot of interest in the pair during the summer, no sales ever happened. Despite a lot of injuries in their respective positions, neither has come close to playing frequently in the early weeks of the season.

In other news, Calciomercato says that if Juventus doesn’t make the Champions League for the upcoming season, Federico Chiesa may be forced to leave the club. The Italian giants’ seventh-place performance in the previous campaign was insufficient to qualify them for the Europa Conference League.

They are now fourth in the early going, but they will have a lot of fight from a variety of teams to keep that position, while both Milan sides and Napoli appear to have a decent chance to take the other three. In recent weeks, United has been linked with a bid for the 25-year-old, with Ten Hag reportedly preparing for life without Jadon Sancho.

Following a public disagreement with the manager, the 23-year-old was kicked out of the first-team squad and may depart in January. Along with Newcastle and Aston Villa, United is one of the three teams mentioned in the study. Also rumored to be interested in the Italian is Bayern Munich.