da leao： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
da pinup bet： Leandro Paredes is still a somewhat fresh face over at Paris Saint-Germain.
The 25-year-old Argentine arrived at the French capital back in January 2019 for a reported fee of £35m and has been put to good use ever since.
So far, he has recorded 35 appearances and has even managed to bag one goal and two assists, despite being a defensive midfielder by trade.
But it seems that with the arrival of Idrissa Gueye, the Argentine has fallen down the pecking order and has seen less game time recently.
In 2019/20, Paredes can only boast 726 minutes across 13 games in all competitions while the former Everton man has 1240 despite his injury woes.
And now, he’s been linked with a move to Manchester United, as per new reports coming from Mirror, who claim the Argentine is getting irritated by the lack of opportunities presented by Thomas Tuchel.
The Red Devils would be getting a real gem of a player and someone who could give them some much-needed quality in the middle of the park.
The only out and out defensive midfielder in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad is actually the ageing Nemanja Matic, who’s also been linked with an exit in recent times.
A real test for any fan: Can you name all of these obscure Man Utd signings?
And granted, there are players like Paul Pogba or Scott McTominay who could potentially fill that void if necessary but with the former likely to have played his final game wearing their colours and the latter still fairly young and inexperienced despite his talents, Paredes’ purchase would actually make a lot of sense.
Not to mention that he’s been hailed as Riquelme’s heir by the man himself. At least that’s what Paredes claimed, as per quotes by AS Roma’s official website:
“Before he stopped playing, he told everyone I’d be his footballing successor. That was an immense honour for me.”
From Man United’s point of view, this is a deal that could do them a world of good but for PSG, it’s the very opposite.
Gueye has been important for Tuchel, that much we’ve seen from his minutes already but with him struggling with injuries – he’s endured three separate absences already this season – Paredes is the natural second-choice who has the quality to slot right into that lineup.
The 25-year-old has so far averaged 1.7 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game in Ligue 1 while also managing 1.5 shots per game as well. And even with his somewhat limited game time, he still rattled the inside of the net once.
Discarding him would leave Tuchel with practically no one to fill Gueye’s void when the Senegalese midfielder is unavailable.
Squad depth is crucial if the Parisians want to compete on all fronts this season and is what wins you silverware at the end of the day.
Allowing themselves to lose Paredes mid-season would be like shooting their own foot.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid cannot afford to lose one of their key players to Manchester United…