Manchester United can sign free agent Santiago Arias should they wish, journalist Johnson Saenz reports.

The lowdown

The right-back has been without a club since he left Atletico Madrid at the end of his contract earlier in the summer. The 30-year-old has also played for Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven and Bayer Leverkusen during his career.

However, Erik ten Hag does have two senior right-backs at his disposal already in Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

The latest

Saenz took to Twitter on Friday afternoon to share the latest on Arias, who is seemingly just awaiting the green light to travel to Manchester.

The journalist stated: "Santiago Arias has his bags ready to move to Manchester United".

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-man-utd-updates-5/" title="Latest Man Utd updates!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The verdict

Would Ten Hag be tempted by the chance to sign Arias?

The 30-year-old would seemingly offer a greater attacking threat than Wan-Bissaka based on his career record. Arias has averaged a direct goal contribution every 6.75 matches up to this point (44 in 297), compared to every 10.8 matches for the current United right-back (16 in 173).

Arias has won six major trophies in his career - three Dutch league titles, two Dutch cups (with PSV) and one UEFA Super Cup (with Atletico).

Meanwhile, his former Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz offered this assessment of his qualities in 2020: "I already knew Santiago Arias as an opponent in the Netherlands, where he played for one of the top teams and was used quite offensively.

"At Atletico, he played a more defensive role. This combination makes him a very complete player, who will help us."

Arias only earned €17,700 (£15,500) per week at Atletico, so this could be a very cheap deal to execute, all things considered.