Ratcliffe has planned a significant strengthening of Manchester United's defence

The defence was far from being Manchester United's best link last season, even though the Mancunians managed to win the FA Cup. And that's a problem new club owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is determined to change.

Rudy Galetti for TEAMtalk has revealed as many as seven names that figure in the offices at Old Trafford to bolster the defence.

They are: Jarrad Branthwaite from Everton, Jean-Claire Todibo from Nice, Tosin Adarabiyo from Fulham, Gleison Bremer from Juventus, Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, Wanderson from Monaco, Inter star Denzel Dumfries and Miguel Gutierrez from Girona.

Manchester United's defence will really need to be worked on, as key centre-back Raphael Varane is already certain to leave the club and right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka is attracting attention from Saudi Arabian teams.

It is still unclear who will be in charge of both the old and new players, as the press has been sending team manager Erik ten Hag into retirement for quite some time now, as well as being rife with reports about the Dutchman's likely successor.