Manchester United have learnt that defender Oumar Solet of Udinese will cost in excess of £30m this summer.
Following the club’s poor 2024-25 campaign, manager Ruben Amorim will hope that his first summer transfer window in charge can lead to improved results on the pitch.
It looks as if the club are focusing on reinforcing their offensive ranks considering they have already signed Matheus Cunha and are said to also be targeting Bryan Mbeumo and Viktor Gyokeres.
However, given Amorim uses three centre-backs in his 3-4-3 system, it would not be surprising if the club looked to bring in reinforcements in defence.
The Mirror report that United have been tracking central defender Solet for some time, though they add that Juventus are also interested in the French defender.
Udinese defender Oumar Solet on March 10, 2025
Solet in profile
Solet only started 19 games in Serie A last term, helping his side keep six clean sheets in those matches, scoring once while providing two assists.
The 25-year-old is adept with the ball at his feet, with his 982 completed passes the third most of any player at Udinese in 2024-25, 349 fewer than Jesper Karlstrom and 450 fewer than Jaka Bijol despite both playing at least an extra 1,200 minutes in the league.
However, it should be noted that while he won an impressive 64% of his ground duels in that campaign, he only won 50% of his aerial duels, stats that highlight his strength against ball-playing opponents.
Oumar Solet of Udinese during his side's match against Genoa, on April 4, 2025
Would Solet fit in at United?
The Frenchman prefers to operate on the left side of the pitch, and considering Lisandro Martinez has frequently suffered injury issues, bringing in a starter on his flank would be sensible.
Additionally, his poor displays in the air could be mitigated by playing in a back three alongside other centre-backs who are more dominant in that regard such as Harry Maguire.
Solet may also be appealing to Amorim given he will arguably be entering his prime, which could be key in light of the fact Maguire is 32 and Leny Yoro is just 19 years old.
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