Release Varane, sell Lindelof, sign Branthwaite - building Manchester United's dream defence

No area of the pitch has been as unsettled this season as Manchester United's defence, a claim that the stats bear out. Seven different defenders have played more than 1,000 minutes this term, a number that doesn't include Lisandro Martinez, who will expect to reach that tally if he can remain injury-free between now and the end of May.

Four central defenders have played between 1,274 minutes and 2,010 minutes, but not one of them is in the top seven for playing time this season, which tells a story. Most clubs will have a centre-back towards the top of that list because it is often the most settled area of the team.

William Saliba and Gabriel are top of the minutes played chart at Arsenal. Virgil van Dijk is top for Liverpool and Ruben Dias is fifth for Manchester City, but with 800 more minutes than Raphael Varane, who is United's most-used centre-back.

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So deciphering what exactly is Erik ten Hag's first-choice back four isn't easy. It's even more complicated when looking ahead to the summer and the uncertainty that clouds the defence, in the centre especially. The only centre-back guaranteed to remain at the club is Martinez.

Ten Hag has placed some of the blame for United's defensive issues this season on the fact he has had to make so many changes at the back and has struggled to field a settled rearguard.

“We have had to change the defence every time [this season],” he said in January. “If you look at last season, we had a very good back four, very consistent, and we had control. This season, we always have to make adjustments at the back, there are no more automatisms