United edge ahead of Serie A giants in the race for “incredibly fast” wonderkid who has the whole of Europe mesmerised – report

Manchester United’s hunt for a new centre-back seems to have taken them to the Bundesliga, if the latest reports are to be believed. The Red Devils simply cannot place their trust in the options they have for the left centre-back position. Lisandro Martinez is injury-prone, not to mention his anger issues. Then there is Matthijs de Ligt, who was supposed to miss only one game back in November but has ended up sidelined for the whole season. Harry Maguire did sign a new deal, but his minutes will need to be managed considering the sheer number of games the club will play next season. United need a left-sided centre-back The entire burden cannot be placed on young Ayden Heaven, despite his impressive form, which is why the 20-time English league champions are looking at left-footed defenders. Castello Lukeba of RB Leipzig is one option, but his price tag could prove prohibitive. This explains why the team from Old Trafford also have their eyes on Karim Coulibaly of Werder Bremen. Having joined the side last summer, the 18-year-old has helped preserve his team’s top-flight status by helping them keep four clean sheets while also contributing a goal. United have watched him in action twice already, with Bremen reportedly valuing the “incredibly fast” Germany U21 international at €50 million (£43.2m). Karim Coulibaly fits the bill Plenty of teams from across Europe are eyeing the former Hamburger SV academy ace, including Juventus, but according to Tuttomercatoweb, United are currently ahead of the Italian side in the race for his signature. “The Old Lady wants to recruit even younger, and so they’ve set their sights on Tylel Tati , born in 2008 from Nantes, and Karim Coulibaly, born in 2007 from Werder Bremen. “There’s plenty of competition for the latter: Newcastle, Manchester United, Chelsea, Napoli, and PSG will all be trying to preempt Juventus’s moves. It remains to be seen what the player’s intentions will be, should someone make the move.” Interestingly, Karim Coulibaly can also play as a defensive midfielder, a position United are keen to strengthen with the possible departures of both Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte. Feature image Sona Maleterova via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25