Man Utd told one of Europe’s ‘very best’ is theirs for just £39m | OneFootball

Manchester United have been urged to beat Liverpool in the race for Serie A star Evan Ndicka, with a European football expert having lauded the player following a big update on his future.

Ndicka was born in Paris and developed in the AJ Auxerre academy before going on to make 16 appearances in their first team. The centre-back took the next step in his career by joining Eintracht Frankfurt for €5.5million in July 2018.

Ndicka scored 12 goals in 183 matches for Frankfurt, playing a key role in them winning the 2022 Europa League final.

He left the following year by signing for Roma on a free transfer following the end of his contract.

Ndicka developed a great reputation in Germany, and he has since become one of the very best defenders in Serie A.

The Italian press revealed on Monday that Man Utd have ‘formally entered’ the race for Ndicka, with the bidding war having reached ‘unprecedented heights’ in recent weeks.

Ndicka has emerged as a ‘prized possession’ for Roma, who have set his valuation at €45m (£39m / $52m).

On talkSPORT, European football analyst Andy Brassell talked up the impact Ndicka could make at Old Trafford.

“I think he’s one of the very best central defenders in Europe, and I don’t think he’s ever really given credit for it,” he said.

Brassell continued: “If I was a Premier League club, I would be all over Roma for Evan Ndicka. I think he’s already a great defender, and I think he’ll get even better.

“I think the situation where United are at the moment, if they get themselves into the Champions League, it’s been a great back end of the season for them under Michael Carrick.

“But they can’t allow what’s happened over the last couple of months and the positive uptick, in the context of, what I have to say quality-wise is quite an average Premier League this season [take their foot off the gas].

“They’ve got to really grasp that opportunity and they can’t be fooled into thinking that everything’s fine.

“They have to go out and make some good signings. And in terms of refreshing that defence, I think Ndicka would be absolutely perfect.

“You look at him, you look at his age, you look at the fact that Roma are still kind of skint because they’ve got to abide by the terms of this financial settlement with UEFA, which means that they will have to sell at least one in the summer, you would think.”

Mourinho vital to Evan Ndicka development

Brassell added: “You go back to Ndicka and when he was at Frankfurt you thought, ‘OK this guy could develop into something really good.’

“But it’s turned out that Roma has been the absolute perfect move for him.

“Mourinho did a really good first job with Ndicka.

“It was interesting when he spoke about how he had a promising, but not red-hot start at Roma. Mourinho said: ‘Evan is very good on the ball, but he needs to learn that being a defender is actually about defending.’

“Those words, it feels, have really stayed with Ndicka.

“He was always like very, very tidy on the ball, very elegant in the way he moves but now he seems to really relish the defending part of being a defender.

“Actually it’s helped him in other ways – he’s someone who’s more of a danger from attacking set pieces. He gets goals because he’s able to be aggressive in the opposition penalty boxes as well.”

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