Former England midfielder Paul Scholes has urged Manchester United to sign Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi ahead of the new season.
The 25-year-old Nigeria international was among the key players for the Foxes as they battled to finish the 2021-22 Premier League season in the eighth position with 52 points from 38 matches.
Though he missed a couple of matches owing to injury, he was also instrumental as Brendan Rodgers' side reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League but lost to eventual winners AS Roma on a 2-1 aggregate scoreline.
With the Red Devils set to lose Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic, and Juan Mata in the summer, Scholes, who spent his entire professional playing career for Man United, believes Ndidi will be a perfect replacement in the defensive role for new coach Erik ten Hag.
“Leicester’s Wilfred [Ndidi] still very much fits the bill of what Man United are looking for, and with just two years remaining on his contract at Leicester, it’s likely to cost significantly less than the eye-watering sums associated with him in summer past,” the 47-year-old Scholes told Football Daily YouTube channel as quoted by the Punch.
“And while he missed the last two months of the season with a knee injury, he remains one of the best defensive midfielders in the game when fit, averaging an astounding 6.5 tackles and interceptions each match and ranking in the top seven per cent of midfielders for aerial duels, too.”
Despite his injury woes, Ndidi managed 19 Premier League appearances overall and accumulated 1,619 minutes of playing time. He started in 18 of these appearances across their 35 fixtures and came on as a substitute on one occasion.
In the previous season, Ndidi played 26 top-flight games for Leicester, scored one goal, and provided four assists. Before linking up with Leicester City in January 2017, Ndidi made 63 league appearances in total at Genk, scoring four goals and providing two assists.
The injury has sidelined Ndidi from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches as he was omitted from the 25-man Nigeria squad named by new coach Jose Peseiro on Saturday.
The Super Eagles are set to take on Sierra Leone in their Group A opener at Abuja National Stadium on June 9 before they travel for their matchday two battle against Sao Tome and Principe at Stade Adrar on June 13.
