Man Utd icon urges club to raid Brentford for ‘top’ defender | Football

Manchester United have been urged to look at Brentford’s ‘top centre-back’ by their former midfielder, Gordon Strachan.

The Red Devils’ defence has come in for heavy criticism so far this season after a poor start to the Premier League campaign.

Michael Carrick’s side is yet to keep a clean sheet in five league games, winning just one of them and picking up only five points.

There is plenty of experience in Manchester United’s defence, with a back four of Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot seemingly first choice at the moment.

However, it was somewhat surprising that reinforcements were not brought in over the summer, especially at left-back where Shaw has little competition.

Strachan, who made over 200 appearances for Manchester United in the ’80s, says they should also be looking at a centre-back and feels Brentford’s Nathan Collins would be a very good option.

He accepts the 25-year-old would not be the star name some fans would want, but the Scot is very impressed by the Republic of Ireland international.

‘I think the problem for Michael Carrick is the defence,’ the former Scotland boss told Grosvenor Sport. ‘I don’t think you can challenge for the Champions League or Premier League, because when you’re coming up against the best, you need the defence.

‘It’s just funny to me that I go and watch Brentford, and I watched Nathan Collins. What a good player he is. Could somebody not sign him?

‘That’s not as flamboyant a name that anybody’d want at Man United. They want something really tricky. But that guy is a top centre-half. You don’t have to scour the world when it’s right in front of you.’

Collins is became Brentford captain after Christian Norgaard left for Arsenal last year and has been a regular at the heart of the Bees’ defence since joining from Wolves in 2023.

He cost £23 million when he moved from Molineux and if Brentford were to let him go they would expect a significant profit to be made on that fee.

The Irishman is under contract with the Bees until 2029, having signed a six-year deal when he joined, with the club holding the option to extend it by a further two years.

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