Manchester United was once against held to a drab draw, this time at home to Burnley as Zlatan Ibrahimovic drew blanks on a night where he should have really helped his side to all three points.
There were plenty of evident issues on the field for the Red Devils and Jose Mourinho is determined to solve every one of them to try and get his side back to his best in years to come.
The defense of the side is something the manager will have a serious eye on and this has seen the club linked with a move for some of the best defenders in Europe.
One such player who is yet against linked with a move to Manchester United is Real Madrid star Pepe.
Manchester United have been in the market for a top class center forward for more than a couple of years now and have been looking at Sergio Ramos, Pepe’s partner at the Bernabeu.
They have also been linked with a move for Pepe in the past but neither of the defenders were ready to leave the Spanish outfit and are yet to even respond to such speculations.
However, reports today suggest that Pepe is stalling on a new contract in Spain and this might give way for Manchester United to finally land their man.
Pepe is into the last year of his contract at Real and it is understood that he is ready to sign a new two-year deal to stay at the club.
But it is revealed that the club is not yet ready to offer him a lucrative deal for another two years and might let him leave in summer for free or in January for a decent price.
At the Bernabeu, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane is currently the first choice center back pairing and at 33, Pepe might not longer be able to lead the line for Real regularly like he used to. So it might be best for both parties that a move is materialized in the next couple of transfer windows.
Manchester United have the likes of Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling in their ranks as the first choice center back pairing while Daley Blind has been decent at the back. Phil Jones remains on the injury list leaving the club with no top class defender in their ranks.
The experience of the Portuguese star will surely help Manchester United at the back but the English outfit will have to fight it out with Italian giants Juventus who are also interested in Pepe’s signature.
Pepe has won almost everything with club and country and is one of the most experienced defenders in Europe at the moment. If he is up for grabs, United and Jose Mourinho are expected to do what it takes to add him to their squad.
Do you think Pepe will move to Manchester United before the start of the next season?