Leicester City have an aging central defence – a problem that could be solved by signing this Manchester United centre-back.
Leicester City’s Ron-Robert Zieler, Wes Morgan and Robert Huth look dejected after West Bromwich Albion’s Matt Phillips scored their second goal
According to ESPN, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is prepared to listen to offers for Chris Smalling this summer with the defender no longer in his plans.
Mourinho is willing to give Phil Jones another chance to prove himself, while Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo are ahead of Smalling in the pecking order.
The centre-back’s departure would then leave the door open for United to make a move to re-sign Michael Keane from Burnley.
This is a development that should interest Leicester City greatly as central defence should be a priority for improvement for them ahead of the 2017/18 season.
When the Foxes won the Premier League title against the odds in 2015/16, much of their success was down to a resolute defence and then hitting opponents on the counter-attack.
Manchester United’s Chris Smalling in action with Stoke City’s Xherdan Shaqiri
It was a system that earned captain Wes Morgan and Robert Huth plenty of praise, but now aged 33 and 32 respectively their limitations at the back are starting to become more of an issue. Currently 30-year-old Yohan Benalouane is the only other option in that position.
That’s why Smalling should greatly interest a side who still have plenty of quality players and potential, but need to ensure they recruit correctly over the summer to build on a successful second half of the campaign under Craig Shakespeare.
Smalling may no longer be considered good enough for United, but with 30 England caps to his name the 27-year-old would be the ideal candidate to improve a creaking Leicester back line.
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