Man Utd close-in on deal for Santiago Arias

Manchester United are preparing a contract for Santiago Arias as they look to sign the unattached South American defender on a short term deal, according to TeamTalk.

Erik ten Hag revamped the squad he inherited from Ralf Rangnick during the summer transfer window after bringing in six new signings. Over £200m was spent by the Manchester giants to sign Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Martin Dubravka, Antony and Tyrell Malacia.

However, one position that United failed to strengthen was right-back. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has fallen out of favour under ten Hag and he was heavily linked with a move away from Old Trafford during the summer.

Diogo Dalot is now the first choice starter on the right side of defence and he’s enjoyed a solid start to the new season but ten Hag wanted another option and Man Utd were linked with a number of players during the closing stages of the window.

They failed to get a signing over the line before the deadline on September 1st, however, it appears ten Hag is still in the market for another right-back and he may have found a short-term solution.

According to TeamTalk, Manchester United are keen to sign Santiago Arias on a free transfer and are preparing a contract that would see the South American join on a short-term deal until the end of the season.

Free agent

The 30-year-old is a free agent after leaving Atletico Madrid when his contract expired in July and he is now seemingly being offered the chance to test himself in the Premier League with United.

It looks like Arias is ready to make the move to Old Trafford as South American journalist Johnson Saenz claims “Santiago Arias has his bags ready to move to Manchester United.” [source TeamTalk].

As the Colombian international is a free agent, he is able to sign for a new club at any point – even outside the transfer windows – so Arias could complete a proposed move to Man Utd over the coming days/weeks.

Arias will be a familiar name to ten Hag having spent five years in the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven where he made 172 first team appearances before joining Atletico Madrid in 2018.

He was a regular under Diego Simeone in the first season in Spain but fell out of favour in 2020 and spent the last two years on loan with Bayer Leverkusen and Granada.

Arias has played over 300 games throughout his career and has over 50 caps for the Colombian national team, so he’d be experienced competition for Dalot if Man Utd end up completing a free transfer deal.