Recent reports that Manchester United are looking into signing former Arsenal and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole should be met with plenty of concern. After all, the 34-year-old Cole has only played 28 league games between Chelsea and AS Roma since the 2013-14 season.
If Man United are really looking for a solid defensive option to help out what has still been a very good year from both Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones, they can certainly do a lot better than bringing in the Premier League veteran.
Here are six players Manchester United can pursue instead of Ashley Cole.
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Ricardo Rodriguez
Wolfsburg’s star defender has the Bundesliga giants in position to be the only Pot 4 team to win their Champions League group stage.
John Stones
Perhaps the cream of the crop of defenders available in the transfer market, Everton’s John Stones has been aggressively pursued by Chelsea since the summer and is one of the best backs in England… at age 21!
Danny Rose
Rose is a versatile back for Tottenham who can play the middle too.
Shkodran Mustafi
The 2014 World Cup winner is only 23 and already one of the elite in Serie A.
Jose Luis Gaya
As long as we’re talking about young Valencia stars, how about Mustafi’s protege Gaya? The 20-year-old had a breakout season with Valencia last year and has Champions League experience to boot.
Faouzi Ghoulam
A star in the Europa League last season, Ghoulam has played in at least 30 matches in each of his last four years of football.