Picture this, it’s the 26th July 2020 and Manchester United have just beaten Leicester to secure their place in next years Champions League. Straight away my initial thoughts had me salivating as to when Sancho would be holding up that famous number 7 shirt…….over a month later and some would say due to the incompetence of the board United are still nowhere closer to completing the deal after initial negotiations between Manchester United and Dortmund at the beginning of August.
With just over two weeks till United start their campaign transfer activity needs to pick up as right wing is one of many positions where they need to strengthen. With every given day the fan base gets frustrated due to the lack of transfer activity compared to Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and pretty much every other club in the Premier League apart from Wolves and Leicester who are both yet to make a signing along with United. However, leading into September with potential news surrounding Donny Van Der Beek, Badiashile and Sancho (still) there is still time for Manchester United to have a good transfer window.
It cannot be understated how crucial it is that the board back Solskjaer this summer. Solskjaer like Lampard both had relatively successful first full seasons with their respected clubs, however you can see that the Chelsea owners have fully backed Lampard with how ruthless they have been getting in their targets with six signings and counting already. Although, I don’t feel like United need an overhaul of the squad, much needed depth is required if they envisage closing the gap to Man City and Liverpool. If Solskjaer is not backed it would not be a surprise if the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and co close the gap on United and they may be looking at a struggle just to get into the top four.
Creative midfield depth is something that United’s midfield is crying out for and is one reason that Solksjaer has bought Donny Van De Beek. It became quite clear especially after the lock down that Solskjaer did not trust the likes of Mata, Pereira and Lingard to come on and make an impact hence their lack of minutes in the final nine premier league games. Compared to the three names I mentioned Van De Beek has scored more goals and assists than the three combined in the last two years albeit in the Dutch Eredivisie and was of course instrumental in their Champions League run last year with likes of De Ligt, De Jong and Ziyech. He can be deployed both deeper and more advanced due to his box to box abilities and will add much needed strength in depth for the midfield.
Solskjaer should also be looking to add in the central defensive position. Although, Maguire and Lindelof partnership has improved our defense there are still question marks over both of them especially as a Premier League winning partnership.
A left-footed central defender with good pace and the ability pick out of pockets of space from the back may offer up a better partnership with Maguire, which is why United have been heavily linked to Monaco’s young prodigy Benoit Badiashile and were enquiring about Gabriel before he decided to move to the second best club in London.
More over, with persistent injury concerns with Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe, Phil Jones (the forgotten man) and the uncertainty around Chris Smalling’s future, Solksjaer will feel it’s imperative to add a central defender to the mix.
It is time for United owners to pull their fingers out and fully back Solksjaer in this transfer window. Although, the fans have had to wait over a month for good news it seems the Donny Van De Beek deal will be finalised this week. I still believe the Sancho transfer will go through eventually and if they can add a defensive reinforcement, suddenly United’s transfer window would be looking a little more rosy and the fans will start growing in confidence that Manchester United can have a successful season.
Written By Adrian Addai
anthonyscouts.co.uk 