Manchester United’s transfer planning could be set to face a significant blow with Paris Saint-Germain defender Nuno Mendes reportedly set to sign a new deal at the Parc de Princes.
The Red Devils are believed to have identified the 21-year-old, who previously played under Ruben Amorim at Sporting, as a key target for the left wing-back position.
Existing options in Amorim’s squad – Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia – are either incapable physically (Shaw) or technically incapable (Malacia) of meeting the demands their Portuguese head coach places on his wingbacks.
Amorim’s 3-4-3 system is heavily dependent on the wingbacks to provide overlapping width as the two attacking midfielders in the front three are positioned more centrally.
This means the wingbacks will be repeatedly fed the ball in the opposition half and expected to engage their opposing fullback, while providing support to the forward line. This requires the wingback to be technically strong with good dribbling and ball progression abilities.
However, the wingbacks must also have the physical capability to perform high intensity recovery runs to be able to track back to cover the opposition winger when being attacked. This makes the position an extremely demanding one with few players possessing the skillset to perform both sides of the role to a high level.
Mendes would be one of this select few.
The Portuguese defender was introduced to life in first-team football under Amorim in this exact slot – the left wing-back role at Sporting. And his form in the demanding position was so good that it put Europe’s top clubs on alert, with PSG swooping to to sign the then 19-year-old for €40 million in 2022 ahead of their continental rivals.
Mendes has since settled into life in the French capital well while he has firmly established himself in the national team, starting five of Portugal’s six games at EURO 2024.
However, the 21-year-old’s contract with PSG expires in 2026, meaning his deal will be entering its final twelve months this summer.
This opening had reportedly put United officials on red alert to a potential swoop for Mendes to reunite him with Amorim at Old Trafford as PSG could be tempted to cash in on a player rather than run the risk of losing him on a free next year, with reports suggesting the defender could be open to the move.
It would have constituted a significant coup for the Red Devils had they been able to convince the defender to swap Paris for Manchester as he represents the perfect candidate to fill an acute weakness in the United squad with a great age and experience profile.
However, it appears Mendes is set to sign a new deal with the Ligue 1 champions, which would swiftly bring an end to these aspirations.
L’Equipe (as relayed by GFFN) reveals the 21-year-old has “closed the door to a potential departure” as he is now “most likely” to sign a new contract in Paris. The report contends PSG manager Luis Enrique has been “instrumental in convincing the 21-year-old to commit his future to Les Parisiens” with the Spaniard seeing the left-back as a key part of the team.
What had felt like a very improbable transfer for Old Trafford officials to pull off, now appears an impossible one. Back to the drawing board.
Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
