da imperador bet： Manchester United’s season went from bad to worse as they suffered another defeat – this time to Galatasaray – in the Champions League group stages and the mood around Old Trafford is anything but positive.
da bwin： Following on from a rather solid debut campaign last year, Erik ten Hag was tasked with finally challenging Manchester City for Premier League glory, yet the 2023/24 season has so far seen a major regression.
Across just seven league matches, United have already lost four while scoring just seven goals, and it’s evident that their summer recruitment has yet to pay off.
The Dutchman lured the likes of Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund to Manchester and while the latter is finally starting to settle in, netting three goals in two Champions League games, the former two haven’t quite hit the ground running.
The summer transfer window promised so much as Ten Hag aimed to heavily bolster his squad and big names such as Victor Osimhen, Joao Felix and Harry Kane were all touted for moves at one point or another, yet nothing ever materialised.
It appeared as though the former Ajax boss was focusing on improving his attacking options when in reality, his defence clearly needed a major shakeup.
Harry Maguire looked set for a move to West Ham United, yet it fell through as he wanted to fight for his place in the team and the only centre-back they signed was Jonny Evans – a 35-year-old veteran – and the move hardly set Old Trafford buzzing with excitement.
Ten Hag did have his chances to lure another defender or two to the club and former Bayern Munich star Benjamin Pavard was a name that was routinely linked during the transfer window.
Did Manchester United nearly sign Benjamin Pavard?
The Red Devils began to show interest in the player before the window was even open according to journalist Graeme Bailey, who said: “Benjamin Pavard informs Bayern Munich of desire to leave.
“Man Utd among interested clubs keen on the French star, as @90min_Football revealed back in April.”
Their interest never wavered and as the window was approaching the final few weeks, Sky Germany reported Florian Plettenberg provided an update which looked extremely promising.
He wrote on X: “Benjamin #Pavard: Concrete talks with @ManUtd at this stage! All parties involved are working on a verbal agreement now.
“Ten Hag is pushing for Pavard as he’s a versatile defender. Pavard wants to leave FC Bayern in August.”
Everything looked promising and signing someone such as Pavard – who had won the World Cup with France and the Champions League with Bayern – certainly was an exciting move and he would bolster a defence that had conceded 43 league goals last term.
In typical United fashion however, the move didn’t go through, and the Frenchman ended up at another European powerhouse – Inter Milan.
Why didn’t Manchester United sign Benjamin Pavard?
According to German news outlet Bild (via GOAL), United were reportedly willing to pay around $32m (£25m) for the player, yet this was below the €45m (£39m) and €50m (£43m) price tag that the Bundesliga champions were demanding.
They failed to increase their offer to what the German side were demanding and Inter ended up swooping in to secure his signature for a fee of just £28m with only days left in the summer transfer window.
It represents another case of the club failing to meet the demands of a player they are desperate to sign, before seeing him eventually move to another club and Ten Hag clearly had a nightmare on the 27-year-old.
Is Benjamin Pavard better than Raphael Varane?
As previously mentioned, United’s defensive record in the Premier League isn’t the greatest and their centre-backs haven’t been in the best of form, with Pavard actually outperforming Raphael Varane since joining Inter.
Indeed, the former Bayern star has helped his side keep more clean sheets (two to one), despite playing fewer games, while he also has made more tackles per game (two to one), won more total duels per game (six to 2.6) and made more interceptions per game (1.5 to 0.2), indicating that he has contributed far more in fewer league games than his compatriot.
The Inter maestro has also outperformed Varane across a variety of performance metrics when compared to his positional peers. According to FBref, Pavard ranks in the top 8% for tackles per 90 (2.36), the top 2% for progressive passes per 90 (6.39) and the top 2% for passes attempted per 90 (86.49), demonstrating his effectiveness at moving the ball forward as often as possible and this would’ve fitted in with Ten Hag’s tactical philosophy.
In comparison, when compared with positional peers, Varane ranks in the lowest 8% for tackles (0.86), the top 28% for progressive passes (4.06) and the top 43% for passes attempted (56.42) per 90 and it's clear who has been the better performer over the previous 12 months.
Pavard has always been destined to succeed at the highest level and former Bayern president Uli Hoeneß certainly lavished praise upon him when he joined in 2019.
He said: "He has already shown after a few weeks that he will be one of the best transfers that we’ve ever made. For me, what a player costs isn't what matters. It was clear to me that he could be an outstanding signing – particularly because of his great character."
Four years and ten trophies later, Pavard left Bayern rather more decorated than when he arrived and Inter have managed to secure the services of a wonderful defender who is still arguably in his peak years as a player.
Ten Hag, on the other hand, will surely regret not adding a few more millions onto his proposed offer for the World Cup winner and perhaps United’s defensive issue may not be as bad as they currently are.
United have kept a clean sheet in just three of their matches this season, conceding two or more goals on six occasions and this isn’t good enough for a club who wish to return to the summit of English football.
Pavard may not have been the miracle worker the Red Devils need, yet he is outperforming Varane this term and could have been an excellent option for Ten Hag to call upon.