Jose Mourinho moaned all last summer and beyond about Manchester United’s need for a centre-back.
Watching the start to the season it was hard to argue, after United conceded five goals in back to back games with Brighton and Tottenham.
Now it looks like the attack which is the bigger priority this summer.
The case for the defence
Even at the end of Mourinho’s reign, Victor Lindelöf made a big improvement. The Swede has carried that on under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and he is a big part of United’s future.
It is United’s other centre-backs who have raised their games.
Fans were ready to give up on Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, while Eric Bailly was an enigma. All three have shown improvement.
United will sign another defender this summer, but the performances have shown United’s current options are better than Mourinho led everybody to believe.
Not enough attacking depth
Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez have been under performing all season long, showing only occasional flashes of their ability.
The improvement they have shown under Solskjaer can be considered marginal, and the Red Devils have decisions to make this summer on the pair of them if it continues.
Players like Jadon Sancho or Timo Werner would be worth the investment and would light up United’s attack.
Injuries to Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial against PSG exposed United’s attack as lacking in depth at the top level, and it was worrying.
Investment is needed at both ends of the pitch, but the priorities seem to have changed.
The defence does need strengthing, yet United’s attack suddenly looks like it needs more focus.
Read more: Four lessons learned from United’s win over Chelsea
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