Manchester United are reportedly eyeing up a move for free agent Ryan Bertrand, with the Red Devils short in the left-back department.
It emerged on Thursday that Luke Shaw will be out for a number of weeks due to a muscle injury, while his understudy Tyrell Malacia is also absent.
Brandon Williams went out on loan to Ipswich Town earlier this week, meaning that Erik ten Hag has no natural left-back in his squad, aside from the inexperienced Alvaro Fernandez.
While Diogo Dalot has filled in on the left side before, United are said to be looking at options elsewhere, with Bertrand named in the Daily Express as a potential short-term fix.
Man United eye Ryan Bertrand
The publication states that Bertrand is on a shortlist of names being considered ahead of next week's transfer deadline, and while some sections of the fanbase will see the signing as underwhelming, it could be a shrewd move in some sense.
Bertrand has made over 250 appearances in the Premier League, having starting out at Chelsea before going on to represent Aston Villa, Southampton and Leicester City.
Early in his career, he proved he could be trusted on the big occasion, when he made his European debut in Chelsea's 2012 Champions League Final success over Bayern Munich.
He then became a mainstay of an attractive Southampton side that regularly finished in the top half of the Premier League table, before they went into decline in the latter part of the 2010s.
The 34-year-old has represented England on 19 occasions, and was part of Roy Hodgson's squad at Euro 2016 in France.
Most recently, he has had an injury-hit stay at Leicester, and now that that's over, Bertrand could well be interested in joining up with the United squad on a short-term deal.
#Euro2016 pic.twitter.com/u1OaBDnxPx
— Ryan Bertrand (@ryanbertrand3) June 7, 2016
Man United scour free agents again
If, as expected, Dalot is going to start the next few games at left-back, it would make sense for Ten Hag to have an experienced back-up on the bench in case anything happens to the Portuguese international.
However, scouring the loan and free agent market again, after short-term deals for Marcel Sabitzer and Wout Weghorst last season, doesn't exactly point to a Man United squad that was fully-prepared for the season ahead.
