Man United sealed three new signings in the January transfer window, including the deadline day addition of Marcel Sabitzer.
Manchester United brought the curtain down on the January transfer window with the last-gasp addition of Austria international Marcel Sabitzer on loan from Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
After it was confirmed that Christian Eriksen faces several months on the sidelines with an ankle injury, United were forced to dive into the market on deadline day and source a replacement, turning to Sabitzer. The Bayern ace has joined the club on loan for the remainder of the season to provide both cover and competition.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will not be adding to his squad again until the summer. (Image: Getty Images.)
United started deadline day with no firm plans to strengthen their squad, with the club satisfied with the additions of Jack Butland and Wout Weghorst earlier in the window. However, Eriksen’s injury meant they were left with no choice but to seek reinforcements.
Manager Erik ten Hag must now work with what he has between now and the end of the season, ahead of the club moving to the next phase of their squad rebuilding project in the summer. United are expected to target the additions of a younger midfielder and world-class striker as their leading priorities ahead of next season.
With the window now closed for business, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what could be considered United’s strongest available matchday squad, featuring both the starting line-up and nine substitutes.
Goalkeeper: De Gea
Although the jury is still out on David de Gea’s long-term suitability to the way Ten Hag wants United to play, there is no denying that the Spaniard has improved this season. He has already kept eight clean sheets in the Premier League this season – as many as he recorded in the whole of last term – and has been an ever-present figure.
Defence: Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw
Though Diogo Dalot has been sidelined in recent weeks through injury, you would expect him to reclaim the right-back berth from Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has been excellent in the Portuguese’s absence, given he is now close to a return. Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez are Ten Hag’s first choice and strongest centre-back paring and Luke Shaw is a shoo-in at left-back, such is the way he has gone up through the gears as the season has progressed.
Midfield: Casemiro, Sabitzer, Fernandes
Casemiro, who has been a revelation since arriving from Real Madrid in the summer, is a guaranteed starter in midfield, as is Bruno Fernandes, meaning Sabitzer and Fred will be battling it out to claim Eriksen’s position during his absence. Fred, as good as he has been this season, does not have the same attacking qualities as Eriksen, meaning Sabitzer feels like a more natural fit to slot in for the Dane, pull the strings, supply the forwards and chip in with a goal or two himself.
Attack: Antony, Martial, Rashford
While Marcus Rashford is a shoo-in at left-wing, both Anthony Martial and Antony do have competition to secure their respective places in the starting line-up. Jadon Sancho is on the comeback trail to challenge Antony and Martial faces competition from Weghorst, who has quickly settled into life in M16.
Though Martial’s fitness issues have been a continuous problem this season, he has shown plenty of promise when fit. He suits Ten Hag’s style of play and his pace might just nudge him ahead of Weghorst – but only if he can stay fit, which is proving a challenge in itself.
Manchester United’s strongest possible line-up following the end of the January transfer window.
Substitutes: Heaton, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Malacia, Fred, Sancho, Garnacho, Weghorst.
Although it is important to recognise that Ten Hag does not have the deepest of squads, certainly with the injury issues United are currently having to combat in central-midfield, he does have sufficient enough options to name a strong bench. However, it is light on sufficient attacking options, certainly through the middle.
Nevertheless, if Ten Hag’s plan to have got Sancho back to his best in recent months pays off, it could be like having a new signing on the bench. He could be a brilliant impact player to call upon, likewise Garnacho.
Erik ten Hag hints at Manchester United role changes for Bruno Fernandes and Victor Lindelof
Man Utd cruised into the Carabao Cup final but Erik ten Hag made some interesting tactical changes late in the game.
Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes swapped roles for United against Nottingham Forest
Erik ten Hag has raised the possibility of Bruno Fernandes being moved to the right wing more often late in games for Manchester United after the Portuguese switched there to allow Jadon Sancho to play centrally against Nottingham Forest.
Ten Hag has also revealed that United have trained with Victor Lindelof playing in the holding midfield role after the Swede replaced Casemiro in that position for the final 10 minutes of the Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win.
Fernandes switched to the right when Ten Hag swapped his entire front three after an hour of the 2-0 win. Shortly after coming on Sancho took up station as the No. 10 and Fernandes replaced Antony on the right.
Ten Hag revealed the thinking behind that switch was to confuse opposition full-backs, who can find it difficult to adjust from a winger such as Antony to someone like Fernandes.
“It was one thought about, but also to bring a different dynamic in the team, I wanted to see how that works, we brought Bruno more times before in the wide position,” he said.
“I think it’s difficult to anticipate it when you first have to deal with Antony, then you bring a semi-wide player there, it’s difficult to anticipate, Bruno is really effective but I want to see the combination with Jadon and Anthony Martial, we’ve seen a different dynamic, that can help us and give us more opportunities in the future.”
Lindelof replaced Casemiro once United had moved 5-0 ahead on aggregate but with Ten Hag facing a midfield injury crisis he has raised the prospect of using the centre-back in that position moving forward.
“He was educated as a six, a control, holding midfielder in Benfica, I know he can do that,” he said.
“We tried it in training, maybe one game, I want my centre halves in midfield positions so we create dynamics to construct more dynamic.”
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
