Jurrien Timber's indecision might help Manchester United realise who they actually need to sign

With the congested fixture list next season, a new centre-back should be near the top of Manchester United's priority list. Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have all had problems with injuries in the past, with the French centre-back most recently having to leave his national team training camp after suffering a hamstring injury.

The Manchester Evening News understands that Jurrien Timber was Erik ten Hag's main target for this position as he wanted to reunite with the defender at Old Trafford. Timber won Ajax's young player of the year last season and was a key reason why they won the title, being ever-present in the defence.

Timber seemed ready to make the move to Manchester, but over the international break a spanner was thrown into the works after Louis van Gaal suggested a move to United would be detrimental to the 21-year-old's chances of going to the World Cup in November if he did not play regularly.

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With players like Nathan Ake and Steven Bergwijn playing key parts in the current national team set-up, this seems like an empty threat given Timber could be considered one of the Netherlands' better options in defence. However, the player has seemingly been spooked by the suggestion and now looks likely to stay at Ajax. United fans are understandably annoyed at Van Gaal, especially as earlier in the year he also seemed to warn Ten Hag off taking the manager's job at United too.

However, this could be a blessing in disguise for United. Mike Verweij has reported that after their pursuit for Timber has seemingly ended, the club could change defensive targets and instead make a move for the