Former Premier League star Don Hutchison believes a defender of Kalidou Koulibaly’s quality could make Manchester United title contenders next season.
Manchester United have looked a different team since Bruno Fernandes’ arrival in January and were on an eleven-game unbeaten run before the season was suspended.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been insistent that he still needs more players to turn Manchester United into real title contenders and the club are expected to spend big money in the summer.
Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish are two of their top targets for the transfer window and Hutchison believes that the duo would surely improve Manchester United if they join the club.
But the former midfielder feels the Premier League giants will still need a top centre-back such as Koulibaly.
He feels a player of the Napoli’s star capability could fire them into title contention, but Hutchison is also expecting Liverpool and Manchester City to improve over the summer.
Asked if Sancho and Grealish can turn Manchester United into title challengers, Hutchison said on ESPN FC: “I think they could, with those names, but I still think they need a top-quality centre-back.
“I am pretty sure Guardiola in the summer will try and sign Milan Skriniar from Inter. He is, in my opinion, alongside Koulibaly, the best centre-half in world football.
“It will be interesting to see whether Pep gets that over the line and where does Koulibaly end up.
“If you add Koulibaly to that list, I think United are going to be really strong candidates for challenging.
“But I can only imagine Liverpool are going to raise the bar in the summer, certainly Manchester City are going to raise the bar.
“They are going to take a little bit of time to catch up but with those names, you have to fancy them to be contending.”
Manchester United are claimed in some quarters to have as much as £200m to spend in the summer.
