Despite Jose Mourinho having found what looks to be an ideal midfield triumvirate in Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick and Paul Pogba, Foot Mercato have waded into the debate by claiming that Marseille’s Lassana Diarra is a target for Manchester United.
What’s the story?
Well, as per the Foot Mercato article and tweet (above) from the writer of the piece, Khaled Karouri, Man United are keen on veteran ex-Arsenal, Chelsea, Portsmouth and Real Madrid midfielder Diarra. The Frenchman, who has had a journeyman career that’s seen him play his football in England, Spain, Russia and his homeland, enjoyed a renaissance last season after controversially leaving Lokomotiv Moscow and even forced his way back into the Les Bleus set-up before a knee injury ended his hopes of featuring at EURO 2016.
Despite his impressive 2015/16, Diarra has been a bit-part player of late at Marseille – he’s not played a full 90 minutes since early November and has been stripped of the L’OM captaincy in favour of loanee Bafetimbi Gomis – somewhat plunging his future into doubt and alerting Man United. Foot Mercato claim that, along with teams in China, the Red Devils want the 31-year-old midfielder, whom Mourinho coached during their time together at Real Madrid.
The article, and Karouri’s tweet, suggest that Morgan Schneiderlin could head the other way, which would make sense given that the former Southampton star has not started a Premier League match under his Portuguese boss. However, any deal may hinge on the French side paying a significant fee and involving Diarra in a swap transfer, with the Manchester giants having already rejected a bid of £19m from Everton for him. Also, the one-time Pompey FA Cup winner is battling with a fine in excess of £8m for his breach of contract with Lokomotiv, so money may talk in terms of his next transfer.
Experience over youth
Mourinho is often panned for looking to proven stars rather than youth, and a move for Diarra would be another example of this. Giving up on Schneiderlin, 27, and replacing him with a player who is now the wrong side of 30 makes little sense in the medium to long-term, but it’s hard to argue against the Special One’s record at some of the biggest clubs on the planet – Real, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Porto.
Looking back at his return-per-game (via Squawka) from last season, Diarra ranks well among Man United’s current defensively-minded midfield options. There are the obvious caveats of this being last term’s numbers and Ligue 1 being of a lower standard than the Premier League, but 2.6 tackles-a-match is impressive, as was his interceptions score and passing accuracy. Diarra even created more chances than Schneiderlin, Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
In theory, he could be a good option to rotate in and out of the midfield with Carrick, who, at 35, will be unable to play week in, week out over the remainder of the campaign as the Red Devils battle for the EFL Cup, the Europa League, the FA Cup and a top-four finish, while his experience may be useful in crunch matches.
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