Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho will offload the pair of Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof from the Red Devils squad if he get the backing of the club's eggheads says former Manchester City defence ace Richard Dunne.
According to The Mirror report citing 888sport sources, Dunne, who spent nine seasons at the Etihad believes City John Stones and partner Ayemeric Laporte are top quality when compared to Red Devils Smalling and Lindelof.
He stressed that Mourinho will be keen to send them packing when the winter transfer window opens in January.
"It's not easy for United because when you look around the world there aren't that many centre-backs playing at that top level who they can get from other clubs.
"Since the days of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic United have struggled to get a settled two and I'm sure as soon as Mourinho has the opportunity he will change the two he has now for different ones,"
Dunne was quoted as saying to 888sport.
"At the moment he has Lindelof and Smalling but they don't inspire confidence throughout the team and as soon as that transfer window opens I'm sure they will be out looking for centre-backs again.
"For all of the flair players they had and the attacking footballers United always had a strong defence with centre-backs who were trustworthy.
"For whatever reason the centre-backs they have now are not only making mistakes but are also being injured a lot and missing games. That's made it difficult to form any partnerships.
"To win league titles you always have to be solid at the back and United just haven't been able to find that partnership to give them the base."
Speaking further, Dunne maintained that Stones and Laporte are likely to emerge the best central defenders in the English topflight, in the coming years.
"They are very different to when you go back over the years to the centre-back pairings that United had. Vidic and Stam, Steve Bruce and Pallister even.
"They were tough tacklers whereas the two City have - who are the only two centre-backs that Pep has bought - are completely within his profile of ball-playing defenders.
"The understanding that they've got could make this a long-standing partnership and certainly the most successful in Premier League history," Dunne submitted.
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