ESPN are reporting that Manchester United made a deadline day approach for Nico Schulz.
They claim that United made a loan bid for the Borussia Dortmund defender, of a 1 million euro (around £909,000) on the final day of the transfer window.
Schulz hasn’t started a league game in 2020, but did play for Germany in their 3-3 draw against Turkey on Wednesday night.
The report doesn’t make much sense, but if it is accurate, it raises further questions of United’s transfer strategy.
Why the claims don’t make sense
Schulz is a 27-year-old left back, who has attacking instincts which make him capable of playing further forward too.
On deadline day, United confirmed the signing of a 27-year-old left back in Alex Telles, who has caught the eye with his offensive work for Porto.
There is absolutely no reason why United would need to sign both on the same day.
Further, the report claims that the approach bemused Dortmund, who had spent all summer rebuffing United’s attempts to sign Jadon Sancho.
Having failed to make headway over Sancho over a number of months, why would United come back on the final day of the window with a loan bid which came out of left field?
Schulz is struggling to get into Dortmund’s starting team, so United making a desperate deadline day swoop for him just wouldn’t make sense – especially in the context of signing Telles on the exact same day.
What if it is true?
If the claims are true, then they lay bare yet more chaos at the heart of United’s transfer strategy.
Perhaps the most likely explanation is that United were worried the Telles deal wouldn’t go through – for whatever reason – and sounded out Schulz as an alternative.
As mentioned above, they have the same age profile and attacking instincts.
Surely United wouldn’t have bought a new left back and loaned another on the same day?
If United really wanted Schulz, it would have made sense to bring it up earlier on in the summer, when talks with Dortmund were ongoing over Sancho.
Blindsiding Dortmund on deadline day was never likely to be the optimum strategy to land the German, even if he was just a backup option to Telles.
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