The dream £17m signing Man Utd must beat Arsenal and Brighton to this January

They say, ‘better the devil you know’. For Manchester United fans stumbling across the news that their beloved, fractured club are considering a swoop for full-back Sacha Boey, it’s an adage that could hardly feel more apt. This time last month, the 23-year-old was part of the Galatasaray side that rocked up at Old Trafford and rubbed Erik ten Hag’s already bloody nose into a pile of salt. Now, as per recent reports, he has emerged as a key target heading into the January transfer window.

According to Sporx, United have become enamoured with Boey, and could look to lure him to England in the coming months as a means of easing their ongoing defensive injury crisis. Competition for his signature may be stiff, however, amid suggestions that Arsenal, Brighton, and Burnley are also keeping tabs on the player.

But it is United, beset by absences at the back, who arguably have the greatest need for a signing of Boey’s ilk. At various points in recent times, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, Sergio Reguilon, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have all been sidelined with complaints. Of that quartet, Reguilon is only at the club on a temporary basis anyways. As a consequence, Ten Hag has been forced to improvise; Victor Lindelof has frequently featured at left-back, and even midfield enforcer Sofyan Amrabat initially came into the side in that position.

Boey, for his part, would provide an extra option on either side of the defence. Predominantly a right-back, the Galatasaray man has been known to ply his trade on the opposite flank to considerable effect too. So steady is he, in fact, that he is yet to miss a game for the Turkish champions this season. And his performances at club level are beginning to cause a stir in the attentions of national team selectors too.

Already a French youth international, Boey has previously been included in preliminary squads for the Cameroonian senior side, but could once again be rewarded by his country of birth in the near future. Speaking recently, France manager Didier Deschamps said he was considering the prospect of a call-up for the full-back, stating: “We’re following Sacha Boey. There will be competition in this area. We have a lot of top players. But we are open to new choices.” Endorsements don’t come much more illustrious than that.

And it is easy to see why Deschamps, and so many others, have been suitably impressed by the defender. So far this season, Boey has recorded an average match rating of 7.13, according to stats guru Whoscored. That figure not only puts him in the top five of Galatasaray’s entire squad, but has also been eclipsed by just two Manchester United players - Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw, the latter of which is aided in his cause by the fact that he has only featured twice this term.

Beyond that, nobody in Galatasaray’s side has made more tackles per 90 minutes than Boey since the start of the current campaign, and he also ranks in the top two for both interceptions and successful dribbles. He distributes well, he is not afraid to put himself about in a physical sense, and he is unusually good in the air for a full-back. In short, he is an admirably complete package, and exactly the kind of defensive reinforcement that United have been crying out for.

Factor in a relatively modest asking price of around £17 million, and suddenly this begins to look more and more like a deal that would be difficult to snub. Far too often in recent times United have spent big and have been proportionately rewarded with even bigger flops. In Boey, they might finally have come across a realistic target who bucks that trend.