Man Utd eye ex-Barcelona star as Kim alternative

Tom Weber

• Updated: 16 Jun 2023 15:47 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United have a Plan B in place should Napoli star Kim Min-jae reject a move to Old Trafford, according to French media.

The South Korean giant has been courted by the Red Devils for months, but Bayern Munich have swooped in for the Napoli defender and he appears to have had his head turned by the German giants. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Bundesliga champions are now the favourites to win the race for Kim, whose €50 million release clause comes into effect in July.

Therefore, Erik ten Hag has been forced to look elsewhere for players that can reinforce his backline this summer. With Harry Maguire potentially on his way out, adding another centre-back will be imperative if the Dutchman wants his team to challenge on multiple fronts next term.

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French outlet L'Equipe claims to know which players the Red Devils will target should Kim indeed end up in Bavaria - and one of them is a former Barcelona man.

Ligue 1 stars

According to the report, Manchester United have their sights set on AS Monaco star Axel Disasi and Nice's Jean-Clair Todibo. The former has been linked with a transfer to Old Trafford for a while and it would not be a surprise to see him finally make the move.

The latter is a more interesting name. Todibo came through the Toulouse youth set-up and ended up signing for Barcelona as a youngster. This proved to be too big a step up for the Frenchman at the time. He looked completely out of his depth during a loan stint at Schalke in the Bundesliga and only made a total of five appearances in Catalonia.

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It ultimately took a return to France for Todibo to rebuild his reputation and confidence. At Nice, he has done exactly that: since his move in 2021, his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) has risen dramatically, currently sitting at €27.1 million.

While United are eyeing both of these players, they will likely only make a move if Maguire departs.