Manchester United signed four players last summer and targeted the same number this summer.
Jose Mourinho has thus far worked differently to most clubs, identifying four key positions that he wants to upgrade and then key targets to fill those positions. Last summer that was Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba.
This summer Victor Lindelöf and Romelu Lukaku arrived early, with Mourinho targeting a defensive midfielder and winger to complete this season’s quartet. However the Red Devils have had tremendous difficulty securing these two positions. So much so, in fact, that José Mourinho is abandoning his plans for a second quartet of signings.
“I asked for four players, I’m ready to go from four to three because the market is difficult,” said Mourinho in a press conference in pre-season. “And with this three I just give a better balance to the team, to the squad, it gives us better conditions to compete.”
Moving from four to three means that one of the positions will go unfilled, but which should that be? What position should United prioritise and who should they get to fill that position?
The two needs
Manchester United need a winger because, quite simply, someone has to cross the ball to Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian slammed in six headed goals last season; so United need to supply him with crosses which is a problem as only one United player sent in more than 100 crosses last season (right-back Antonio Valencia with 141). So they need a direct cross-happy winger.
Meanwhile in midfield Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera are top-class options, but beyond them it’s a little ropey. Marouane Fellaini is a special weapon that should only be used in special situations. Michael Carrick is 36 years-old and Timothy Fosu-Mensah is too young to yet be taken seriously by Mourinho.
While Andreas Pereira and Daley Blind are wonderful talents, they are nevertheless the antithesis of what Mourinho wants from his central midfielders. United are lacking a tough-tackling defensive midfield stopper (having sold tough-tackling defensive midfield stopper Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton in January) and they need to find their man.
The two (three?) targets
Ivan Perisic was Manchester United’s winger target. The 28 year-old Croatian has long been an inconsistent figure but José Mourinho marked him out and with good reason. Firstly he’s a veteran with many year’s experience under his belt, next he stands 6’1 so increases United’s aerial advantage. He’s a two-footed workhorse which puts him right up Mourinho’s alley and, most importantly, he’s a prolific crosser. Last season he sent in 203 crosses for Inter, the kind of service Romelu Lukaku dreams of.
Nemanja Matic is the man Mourinho identified to become the club’s defensive midfielder. This was a stranger one, as Matic has always functioned best in a sort of defensive-focused box-to-box role. Moreover he’s not exactly world-class and has just been replaced in the Chelsea first-team by Tiemoue Bakayoko. Eric Dier was also mooted as a possible alternative as Mourinho sought a defensive midfielder who would be Premier League ready.
The problem
As Mourinho said in his press conference: “The market is difficult.” This is a reference to Inter stubbornly demanding at least £50 million for Perisic, a winger of some talent but who has really only produced one consistent season in his entire career and despite being four years older than Romelu Lukaku has played just 20 more career games than the Belgian.
For their part Chelsea want £40 million or more for Nemanja Matic, another pretty good player that is being enormously overvalued by a selling club. Eric Dier, meanwhile, would cost north of £50 million if Spurs even agreed to sell at all.
Paying an enormous sum (£75m) for Lukaku made sense because at 24 he has plenty of room to improve and become truly world-class, but Perisic and Matic are as good as they’re going to get. And while Dier is also young and can improve technically, he’s a fake tough guy and you can’t teach someone to be intimidating. And if you’re not intimidating you can’t be a Mourinho midfielder.
The solution
So, which player should United sign? Well as hinted earlier, United have a desperate gap in the middle of the park. They couldn’t even put a team out in a 4-3-3 without including a 36 year-old or a brutish powerhouse who can barely pass the ball.
On the wings they could definitely do with Ivan Perisic’s crossing ability, but they would be able to find alternatives. Firstly Luke Shaw is likely to play a lot more this season which will dramatically increase the number of crosses coming in from the left. Secondly United have plenty of talent to fill those wing positions: Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata are a superb quartet backed up ably by Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young.
If United didn’t sign Perisic, what’s the worst that would happen? They’d have to play Anthony Martial more, which sounds pretty great, no? Martial is a supreme talent who needs only consistent minutes to re-find the rhythm he had in 2015/16 when he was one of Europe’s hottest prospects.
Meanwhile if United didn’t sign a defensive midfielder they’d be forced to use Ander Herrera as a holder all season with just Carrick as his back-up. Sure it’s nice to consider that Mourinho would give Andreas Pereira or Timothy Fosu-Mensah a run in the side as a starter, but he obviously wouldn’t.
So, Manchester United should forget about signing a winger and focus on getting a powerful defensive midfielder to help lock down midfield and unleash Paul Pogba as an attacking force. Throw even more money at Chelsea to secure Nemanja Matic or look elsewhere for a new stopper.
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