Manchester United eye Ezequiel Garay transfer as Louis van Gaal aims for defensive fix in January

The long-term Manchester United target could finally move to Old Trafford if Louis van Gaal gets his way

Mirror.co.uk -- Louis van Gaal has identified Argentina hard man Ezequiel Garay as the player to fix Manchester United’s leaky defence.

United sent two scouts to watch the Zenit St Petersburg centre-half play in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday with a view to making a January bid.

Although Garay only joined Zenit for £12million from Benfica in the summer , United believe they can prise the Argentina international away in the January transfer window. Van Gaal has made sorting out his rearguard a priority and sees Garay, 28, as the man to build his defence around.

Garay was linked with United last summer , but his move to Zenit went through before Van Gaal took charge officially at Old Trafford.

Quick, powerful and strong is the air, Van Gaal sees Garay as the man to bring much-needed solidity to United’s defence.

He first came to Van Gaal’s attention back in 2007, when he was part of the Argentina team that won the World Under-20 Championships in Holland.

Garay played alongside United defender Marcos Rojo in the World Cup in Brazil. Although Rojo has played in central defence in United’s last three games, Van Gaal is said to see him as a left-back long-term and Garay as the man to lead the back four.

Van Gaal is not convinced by Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, the three centre-backs he inherited at United. 

His defence faces its most difficult test tomorrow when Jose Mourinho’s free-scoring Chelsea visit. 

Mourinho is desperate for Diego Costa to play, but has told him he needs to go flat out in training today.

The Brazil-born hitman, already suffering with a hamstring problem, only left hospital on Thursday after being hit by a virus.

Mourinho claims Costa has “a little chance” of featuring against United, but added: “Diego has to show in training that he’s capable of playing. He has to make a complete session with the other guys without any kind of protection.”