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.
