Manchester United’s defensive problems have become chronic this season with a barrage of injuries leading them down a slope of bad results.
In such a scenario, United’s inability to add to their defensive ranks in the summer is proving to be a missed opportunity.
Consequently, United drew up a four-man shortlist to strengthen their defence in January.
However, one name might need to be crossed off the list soon if recent reports are to be believed.
Portuguese outlet O Jogo reports that Sporting Lisbon are no longer interested in selling Goncalo Inacio in January after their good start to the season.
After 10 league games, Sporting sit at the top of the table in their campaign to wrestle back the league title they lost last year.
Inacio has played an important role for them, appearing in every game and playing 93% of all available minutes.
Therefore, Sporting are not willing to entertain a deal similar to the one Tottenham made for Pedro Porro.
In that case, the Portuguese side accepted a short-term loan move for Porro in January in return for a fee bigger than the player’s release clause in the summer of 2023.
Porro eventually made the move permanent but the extra millions Sporting received from Tottenham down the line weakened their team for the league campaign.
Sporting finished fourth in the league after winning it unbeaten the year before, in 2021/22 with Porro being a crucial part of the team then.
They are now reticent to repeat that mistake, especially as Inacio’s good form makes it a certainty that the interest in the player will not waver any time soon.
Therefore, they prefer to wait until the summer and extract the full release clause from any interested party to let their star defender leave.
For United, this might mean they need to pivot to other targets since clubs like Real Madrid are in the race for his signature and they could represent a more stable environment for the player.