Two transfers Man Utd have to prioritise after Leeds loss

A Manchester United midfield overhaul is beyond overdue. At least one central option will come in this summer, with Elliot Anderson the top pick to fill the quality void in an engine room that has held a footballing behemoth back for far too long.

The growing number of supporters who relish transfer activity more than the action itself are waiting with bated breath. The summer of squad upheaval, however, cannot end there. Not if the winds of change are to continue to flow through M16.

Life under Michael Carrick thus far had bordered on the utopian. Prior to the visit of old foes Leeds United on Monday night, no team had taken more points since the caretaker’s second stint in the Old Trafford hotseat started.

Ruben Amorim had his side meandering down the road to nowhere. In the blink of an eye, Carrick was leading this fallen giant back to the promised land of Champions League football, at a canter.

With Liverpool and Chelsea the meekest of challengers, a win over Leeds would have put United within touching distance of a top-five finish. Instead, the most surprising and, more pertinently, crucial of Leeds victories, a first since on enemy territory since 1981 in the league, gives the Whites breathing space at the bottom. All while blowing the race for Champions League qualification wide open.

The shock success also proved that a defence which looks this vulnerable without 33-year-old Harry Maguire in it, a stalwart who not so long ago the club were keen to flog as a surplus-to-requirements faded force, will continue to prevent United returning to anything like their former grandeur under any manager.

Lisandro Martinez is now set to miss three matches due to his sending off in the Leeds loss – the most bizarre of dismissals for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair – joining suspended Maguire on the naughty step.

With Matthijs De Ligt no closer to a return, United are left with the inexperienced duo of Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro as their only fit recognised central defenders for Saturday’s crucial trip to Chelsea.

The club have high hopes for both. Yoro’s nervy showing against the brutish Calvert-Lewin provided the starkest reminder yet that he is not ready to be depended upon week in, week out.

Martinez made a heroic block to deny Leeds a third before half time, but he otherwise pulled out of challenges and looked at least a yard short of pace. With options depleted, Carrick perhaps had no option other than to deploy the half-fit Argentine.

Any conversation concerning Martinez, however, remains overshadowed by the perennial conundrum: will he be truly fully fit, at his optimum level, ever again? At least for a prolonged period?

De Ligt’s injury is a back issue nobody, even the club, seems to know much about, while his injury record before joining was rather chequered. Supporters again are left to ponder whether the Dutchman’s form earlier this term is as good as it will ever get.

United’s transfer hierarchy have looked at some potential central defensive reinforcements for next season. Nottingham Forest’s Murillo has the right blend of Premier League experience and youthful endeavour for co-owners Ineos. Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi has been considered, but nothing more. United’s new data department has been credited with the uptick in transfer market performance of late. Now it is time for them to really earn their keep.

Eleven teams have conceded fewer goals than United this term, including Forest in 16th. No team this porous is ever going to win anything.

The defensive talent is there already, hence the laser focus on midfield investment. The issue is reliability. Without their first-choice pairing – Martinez at 100 per cent and Maguire – United can be pierced like wet tissue paper by a strikeforce without a league goal in seven hours before Monday’s pivotal success.

Relying on a brittle Martinez and Maguire in his twilight years is a risk, at this juncture into Ineos’ red revolution, United’s hierarchy simply cannot take.