The bold Man Utd and Brighton swap deal which could see a £36.5m gem silence the doubters - opinion

 Manchester United are believed to be interested in signing Brighton left-back Pervis Estupinan this summer.

It was reported earlier in the window to be a story that had ‘plenty of legs’ according to Ben Jacobs, via the United Stand and has since escalated into one of the biggest live transfer stories with talkSPORT adding that talks are already taking place between the Ecuador international and the Old Trafford club.

It’s an intriguing transfer story which comes just six months after the Red Devils spent £25m on talented Lecce youngster Patrick Dorgu. Meanwhile, Luke Shaw is also now fit again and preparing for a full pre-season of training as he aims to fight his way back into the setup at both United and England.

Estupinan has been at Brighton since 2022 when he signed a five-year-contract with the club and still has two full years remaining on his deal. The defender, who won the Europa League with Villarreal after a victory over the Red Devils in the 2021 final, has racked up 101 appearances for the Seagulls, helping the club to two top half finishes and a first ever appearance in a European competition after playing 35 league matches for a team that finished sixth in his debut year.

Should Man Utd sign Pervis Estupinan?

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim likes to play a 3-4-2-1 formation with an emphasis on having strong attacking wing-backs in his team.He used Patrick Dorgu in that left position towards the end of last season and has often used either Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot in the other position on the right side.

With Luke Shaw's record of injury problems, Dorgu’s lack of experience in English football and the likely sale of Tyrell Malacia, it’d arguably make sense to pursue a move for Estupinan provided he’s available for the right price.

At present it’s not clear whether Brighton are willing to sell Estupinan and the player’s exact asking price has not been revealed. Sussex World, however, have speculated it would be somewhere in the region of £30m although also stating that the club are likely to try and get more having made around £60m from selling Marc Cucurella to Chelsea three summers ago.

Former Red Devils fan favourite Antonio Valencia told FIFA in 2023: “For me, Pervis Estupinan is the best left-back in the Premier League and maybe the best in the world. He is having an incredible season and he has room to improve. He’s strong defensively, he’s good on the ball, his crossing has improved, he’s very intelligent. I think he will continue to improve because he’s very professional.”

The intriguing swap deal Brighton could look to strike with Man Utd

It’s now been 12 months since Manchester United splashed out £36.5m on Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee.The Netherlands international arrived with plenty of hype after helping Bologna achieve Champions League qualification for the first time since 1965. He chipped with with 12 goals and seven assists in 37 appearances that season and was even compared to Ronaldinho in high praise from his manager at the time Thiago Motta.

“He said his idols are Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gabriel Batistuta, who are two excellent players, but, seeing him day-to-day, he reminds me of the Ronaldinho I played with at Barcelona,” Motta told Sky Sport Italia in February 2024.

The thought of signing the next Ronaldinho certainly got United fans excited and expectations were raised even more when the Netherlands ace netted on his debut against Fulham on matchday one.

However, as the season progressed it became increasingly clear that Zirkzee wasn’t quite the centre forward, United had thought they’d signed. Overall, he scored seven and assisted three in 49 appearances, with only three of his goals coming in the league. Under Erik ten Hag, he was primarily used as a centre forward with little effect, meanwhile under Ruben Amorim it became even more confusing for the new recruit who played as a winger and as No.10 without any sense of regularity in either position.

Clearly, Zirkzee struggled to settle in his first season in English football, but it’s clear to see that there’s a player in there with the potential to sign particularly if a club like Brighton were to get a hold of him. The Dutch international may find it even more difficult to fit in at Old Trafford following the arrival of Matheus Cunha, the presence of Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount along with the potential arrival of Bryan Mbeumo amid reports of a potential swoop from Brentford. The Red Devils are also likely to sign a No.9 to compete with Rasmus Hoijlund, meaning Zirkzee, who is naturally more of a shadow striker or No.10 could struggle for game time.

That is why it might make sense for Brighton to get a portion of the money for Estupinan, say £10m, and take Zirkzee away from Old Trafford as part of the deal.

Zirkzee has been linked with various moves back to Serie A and is still held in high regard by many managers based on his time at Bologna. But could prove the ideal replacement to someone like Joao Pedro if utilised properly.

To demonstrate this point, it’s worth focusing on his statistics in his final season at Bologna. For example, he averaged 26.5 ball carries per 90 minutes in Serie A last season, a figure that only four Premier League strikers bettered - Cunha (26.5), Gakpo (30.0), Mbeumo (30.6), and Pedro (34.7).

Meanwhile, he also averaged 44.8 touches per 90 minutes in Serie A in 2023/24.. Only four Premier League centre-forwards - Cunha (45.0), Gabriel Jesus (47.7), Mbeumo (47.9), and Pedro (52.7) - averaged more that same season.

Ultimately, Zirkzee is still very raw but his qualities suggest he’d have the potential to form an exciting partnership behind Danny Welbeck next season if he was to relocate to the Amex Stadium.