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According to Gianluca di Marzio, Manchester United have made contact with Napoli defender Elseid Hysaj ahead of a potential move for the 25-year-old this summer.

What's the word?

The report simply claims the Red Devils have registered their interest in the Albanian but that the club could face competition from Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid side.

Reports in recent weeks have seemed to suggest United's main target for the right-back role will be Crystal Palace's Aaron Wan-Bissaka with Sky Sports claiming that the Manchester side had a £50m bid rejected.

Having seemingly found a deal for the Englishman difficult to get over the line, the links with Hysaj are understandable and upon a deeper look at the situation, United's failure to capture Wan-Bissaka might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

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A more suited fit for United

Valued at £20.7m by Transfermarkt, Hysaj is an archetypal modern full-back with a lung-busting engine and desire to get forward as often as possible. Games in Italy have always been thought of as being much slower and more tactical, but top-flight football in the UK is considered much more end-to-end.

Blessed with real pace and understanding of how to time his runs, the 25-year-old would relish playing at the quick intensity Ole Gunnar Solskjaer desires. Indeed, his former Albania coach Gianni De Biasi noted that Hysaj was "very intelligent, very balanced"; a combination of skills that should ease United's concerns on potentially missing out on the defensively strong Wan-Bissaka.

The one area where Hysaj really outstrips his English counterpart is on the ball. Indeed, against France on Tuesday night, Wan-Bissaka was guilty of some sloppy passes throughout the game. Napoli's defender on the other hand, is extremely at ease on the ball. Di Biasi added that the right-back had "great technical ability" and that's most clearly shown by his impressive 85.6% passing accuracy and 56.4 passes per game; significantly more than Wan-Bissaka's 73.4% accuracy and 33.7 passes respectively.

So whilst going for a young homegrown talent is understandable, Hysaj has proven during his time in Italy that he is more than capable of playing for a side intent on playing attacking football.