One of Manchester United’s primary weaknesses last season was their lack of meaningful threat from down the flanks. David Moyes looked like he had set his team up to avoid being hit on the counter-attack. This meant tempering his winger’s natural attacking verve and cutting out a lot of the service into The Red Devils’ strikers. All in all, it was a pretty damaging decision.
I’m sure that Louis Van Gaal will look to open things up a little. Yes, he’s known as a disciplinarian, but he’s used to having players like Arjen Robben strut their stuff down the wings. he’ll want to make sure that his Manchester United players are given a certain degree of freedom.
But having studied last season’s tapes, I wonder if he’ll be keen to bring in a new option in this part of the pitch. The Red Devils have been linked pretty strongly to Barcelona star Alexis Sanchez, after all. The Mirror have even claimed that Manchester United are ‘planning a £22m bid’ for the classy Chilean winger.
Alexis Sanchez strikes me as the full package. He’s versatile (he can play down the flanks, or as a centre-forward), he’s got goals in him and he loves to take the attack to the opposition. With Manchester United looking for players who can shake them out of their slumber, Sanchez could prove to be just the ticket.
If Louis Van Gaal is interested, he may have to see off attention from clubs like Arsenal. Still, The Red Devils should have more than enough spending power to fend off any of their Premier League rivals. Arsene Wenger won’t want to end up getting into a transfer battle with Manchester United. In other words, this should be Van Gaal’s deal to lose.
Sanchez scored 21 goals for Barcelona last season, so he’ll certainly help to give United a little more bite in the final third. I’d argue that’s worth spending big on.
What’s your take? Should Manchester United battle it out with Arsenal to sign this Barcelona superstar? How much cash will it take to close the deal?
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