Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has been handed his first transfer setback of the summer with Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp telling him to forget about signing highly-rated centre-back Mats Hummels, according to the Express. United had been hoping to land the World Cup winner to fill the void left by Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic but may now have to pursue other targets. Ferdinand was allowed to leave the club when his contract ran out while Vidic moved to Inter Milan, and Hummels had been identified as the man to lead the Red Devil's new-look defence next season. However, outspoken Dortmund boss Klopp scoffed: What is the latest rumour Mats to Manchester United? And for how much £17 million? For an amount like that you can forget about it straight away. Those words will come as a crushing blow to United, who missed out on their prime transfer targets last summer under David Moyes and paid the price by finishing seventh in the league and failing to qualify for European football altogether.The Old Trafford outfit are in desperate need of a high-quality central defender this summer, and it now appears they will have to cast their net in other waters. If Hummels is unavailable, then here we've put together a list of 5 potential alternatives United could look into over the coming month as they attempt to rebuild their back line. Click 'next' to find out who they could try to sign instead.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
