'Doesn't have it' - Manchester United transfer plans could give Erik ten Hag surprise weapon

After being forced to field 18 different central defensive pairings in 52 matches last season, Erik ten Hag looks to have decided he never again wants to be in that position.

It was the injuries in defence that derailed so much of his tactical plan last season and the compromises he was forced to make that led to so many disastrous results. A sequence that took him to the brink of the sack before the FA Cup final win against Manchester City.

When United signed Jonny Evans on deadline day last summer, nobody envisaged the former academy graduate playing 30 times, least of all Evans himself. Ten Hag didn't plan on Willy Kambwala playing 10 games, or Casemiro dropping back to the centre of defence.

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He was forced into making those decisions as defender after defender headed to the treatment room. Evans was the fifth-choice centre-back when he signed but even that wasn't enough. There was no continuity in one of the most crucial areas of the pitch.

Ten Hag will have everything crossed that that changes next season and United intend to make sure they have the options to ride out an injury or two as well. They are trying to sign two defenders at a cost likely to exceed £100m in Matthijs de Ligt and Jarrad Branthwaite.

The deal with Bayern Munich for 24-year-old De Ligt looks easier to do, as Everton continue to play hardball over Branthwaite, 21. The Toffees have rejected a second bid for the centre-back.

There is probably a need to sign a couple of defenders, with Raphael Varane having already left the club. Talks are ongoing with Evans over an extension and at least one of Victor