The past three months should’ve given José Mourinho and Ed Woodward quite a clear indication that they should be active in the next two transfer windows, especially to sort out their defensive issues.
But now Sky Sports report that the club are considering handing Chris Smalling an extended deal at Old Trafford with his current contract set to expire at the end of the season. The centre-back has opened negotiations with the club in order to almost save his career after what has been a turbulent season so far for Smalling.
Apart from one or two solid performances in recent matches, the England international has been far from his best, while United’s whole defensive structure has been under scrutiny due to defeats to Brighton & Hove, Derby County in the League Cup and West Ham United, where Mourinho played Scott McTominay as a centre-half.
But now, instead of going on a proper spending spree to get the defenders they couldn’t in the summer, United may want to hand Smalling another opportunity, while they are keen to do the same with Ashley Young. Mourinho has also fallen out with Eric Bailly, who could be on his way out as early as January with the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur interested in his services.
The current state of matters should not at all have triggered the Red Devils to consider handing extensions to players who don’t deserve it and who have fallen far behind the rest of the Premier League defenders.
Smalling and Young’s experience does have a major role to play in the club, but this season has indicated that not even experience can help prevent the team suffer an embarrassing defeat at home to a club who plays in the Championship.
Smalling would be much better off at a different club, maybe even in the Premier League, who might find him beneficial to their setup, but given the mess that United find themselves in currently, their stature should rather force them to go after some of the biggest names and defenders in the world and avoid having the same struggles next season.
