Nathan Ake, Tyrone Mings and Alessio Romagnoli on Manchester United’s centre-back shortlist

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen on signing a centre-back (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has identified three defenders in his search for a centre-back partner for Harry Maguire.

The Red Devils spent £80m on Maguire last summer and the former Leicester City man has improved United’s defence to the point in which he’s been made club captain.

Solskjaer’s side have come on leaps and bounds since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes in January and for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement it appears the side needs minimal changes rather than a large overhaul.

A centre-back to play alongside Maguire is considered to be one of those changes and Solskjaer has scoured the market for a physical, fast defender to partner the England ace.

VIctor Lindelof has partnered Harry Maguire this term (Picture: Getty)

According to ESPN, Solskjaer has a three-man wishlist consisting of Bournemouth ace Nathan Ake, Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings and AC Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli.

Solskjaer appeared to tap-up Ake following Saturday’s 5-2 win against Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

After bumping fists with Ake, Solskjaer told the 25-year-old: ‘Good luck’,

Ake replied, ‘Cheers, thank you’, before Solskjaer appeared to follow up with: ‘We need a left-footed centre-back, so keep going’.

Solskjaer appeared to tap up Ake (Picture: BT Sport)

The Dutchman has two yearas to run on his deal on the south coast but the Cherries are facing relegation and he will likely be sold should they go down.

The same can be said of Mings, who played alongside Ake at Bournemouth before his move to Birmingham.

United take on Villa on Thursday, where Solskjaer will be able to analyse Mings first hand to see if he’s a good fit for the club.

Romagnoli has long been linked with a move to Old Trafford and the Italy international would likely command the biggest fee out of the three players if Solskjaer was to opt for a move for the Italian.

Ralf Rangnick is set to take over at the San Siro at the end of this season and he’s unlikely to sanction Romagnoli’s departure unless it was for an exorbitant fee.

MORE: Cesc Fabregas leaps to Eddie Nketiah’s defence after red card against Leicester

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8291209 https://ift.tt/2Z9paBW