Fabrizio Romano says United are very interested in “elegant and composed” league winner

Manchester United continue to scout Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba as they aim to bolster their central defensive ranks this coming summer.

The Old Trafford side once again displayed their soft underbelly for the world to see as they carelessly threw away a three goal lead against Championship side Coventry City in the final 20 minutes of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final.

A penalty shootout win could not disguise the lack of mentality among the players that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

A toxic mixture of poor form, chaotic structure and devastating injuries have led United to suffering one of their poorest seasons in years, as teams cut open Erik ten Hag’s side at will.

What’s more, numerous United defenders are likely to move on to pastures new at the end of the current campaign such as Jonny Evans, Raphael Varane and likely one of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.

Naturally, new owner INEOS are keen to right this wrong in the summer and have made the purchase of a new central defender, possibly even two, a priority.

Jarrad Branthwaite, Gleison Bremer, Jean-Clair Todibo and Ronald Araujo are certainly the most discussed names in the media as of late but the Red Devils continue to have an extensive list of potential targets.

This has been confirmed by Fabrizio Romano in his latest daily briefing as he stated that, “Scouts from three top clubs were in attendance to watch Edmond Tapsoba in yesterday’s game for Bayer Leverkusen away to Borussia Dortmund. The centre-back looks like he could be one to watch for this summer as he’s attracting interest, though it’s still early in this story.

“As I previously reported, Manchester United want a centre-back this summer and they’re one of the clubs who’ve previously looked at Tapsoba. They’ve been scouting Tapsoba for a long time, but they also have a long list of names, as previously mentioned.”

The Burkinabé defender was linked to the club extensively last summer when it appeared that Harry Maguire would be on his way to West Ham United.

The defender’s stock has risen even more since then as he has played a crucial part in Bayer Leverkusen’s astonishing unbeaten season so far.

Tapsoba has played 38 times in the centre of the Bundesliga champion’s defence with the team conceding a measly 20 goals in 30 games so far this season.

The 25-year-old has been described as “an elegant and composed defender who excels in one-versus-one situations. His acceleration enables him to keep pace with speedy attackers, while he once again shows intelligence in his body positioning to show opponents onto their weaker foot and nullify their attacking threat.”

Nonetheless, Romano does suggest that despite United’s interest, he is at this stage, only one of many names on the list.

While it has been widely mentioned that INEOS are keen to add younger players to the team, Tapsoba at 25 could be a perfect blend of youth and experience and matches his likely defensive partner, Lisandro Martinez’s profile, who himself is only 26 years of age.

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