Manchester United have made an enquiry for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Leandro Paredes, according to reports in the French media.
The Argentinian international is believed to be available for around €35m (£30m) this summer and fans on Twitter have been debating whether the 28-year-old would be a good signing for the Red Devils:
Would be so happy if this is the alternative to de jong
— Kolavic Junior™ (@Kolavicofficial) July 9, 2022
Argentinian Fred
— ℕ𝕕𝕚𝕧𝕙𝕦𝕙𝕠 𝕋𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕒 (@Ndivhuho__) July 9, 2022
Nice
— king 👑 (@keze52) July 9, 2022
😳🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️
— Luciana Peters (@LucianaPeters) July 9, 2022
If we pair him with Tielemans, I would be happy.
— Aubrey Mahlobo (@aubrey_mahlobo) July 10, 2022
Better not be a de jong replacement ima be fuming 😤
— skett (@ZEssMAsterSKett) July 10, 2022
Paredes is among argurably the best DMs in the past 3yrs. His tackling and passing between lines ability is second to none. You’ll basically be having a prime verrati.
— Eddy franklin (@Eddyfranklin_) July 10, 2022
Decent defensive midfielder. Hopefully we can get the price down a bit at a possible deal
— Tobias Edström🔰 (@TobiasEdstrm1) July 9, 2022
It does appear as if United are scouring the market for potential backup options if a move for Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong does collapse. Paredes has actually been linked with a transfer to the Premier League previously, with Chelsea said to have made an approach before he made the switch to PSG three and a half years ago.
In terms of what he could bring to Erik ten Hag’s team, Paredes may be a few years older than de Jong but he does have a somewhat similar skillset.
He is an extremely accurate passer, and he doesn’t just play it safe either, with his progressive passing stats up there with some of the best in the top five European leagues.
Paredes also averages more tackles and interceptions per game than de Jong so the Argentine would probably be a better option if ten Hag is looking for an all-round midfielder.