Carl Anka, Andy Mitten and Laurie Whitwell discussed the latest goings-on with Manchester United on the most recent edition of The Athletic’s Talk of the Devils podcast. During the show, Mitten spent some time discussing the Red Devils’ alleged interest in signing Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman.
Mitten recently wrote an article for The Athletic in which he revealed that Manchester United ‘have held talks about the French winger joining the club’ and the journalist went on to state that the fact Bayern have signed Leroy Sane from Manchester City ‘could knock Coman down the pecking order’ at the Allianz Arena, which may explain why the club would be willing to let the 24-year-old, who is under contract until the end of June 2023, depart from the club this summer.
United have also been linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho this summer and Mitten stated that while the England international is their ‘prime target for a wide forward player’, Coman has also ‘been watched extensively’.
Mitten talked about his article discussing United’s interest in £36m-rated Coman during his recent appearance on The Athletic’s Talk of The Devils podcast. He declared that his “source was a very good one” and he went on to speculate over whether Coman could be a “plan B or plan C or plan D or plan E” for Sancho, before clarifying that he “…never said that there had been talks between the two clubs, I said there’s been talks, and there has been,” indicating that United may have been discussing this potential move internally. The Red Devils reporter went on to share his thoughts on United’s interest in Coman and the Frenchman’s quality as a player.
He said: “I’d prefer Sancho to come, but I think that Coman’s a decent player. I’m not a professional football scout. What I then did, was speak to people who’ve played with Coman and got their opinion, and they know, and they came back with pretty favourable reports.
“I think it’s going to be a difficult transfer window for all the big clubs. I think clubs are going to try and hold onto their best players and that includes Bayern Munich, with a winger who’s probably not going to get as [many] minutes as he hopes that he’s going to get.”
Is Kingsley Coman a good alternative to Jadon Sancho for Manchester United?
YES, I THINK SO
NO, I DON'T THINK SO
TIF Thoughts…
Judging by his comments on a potential Sancho alternative, it appears as though Mitten believes that Coman does possess some quality as a player, having spoken to others who have played alongside the winger before, and he also appears to believe that there is a chance that this deal is a feasible one, as Coman will potentially not enjoy as much game time as he’d hope next season, following the arrival of Sane at Bayern.
As per WhoScored, Coman scored 13 fewer goals and provided 13 fewer assists than Sancho in the 2019/20 Bundesliga campaign and with that in mind, it might be fair to say that the Englishman may still be the best option for United in terms of quality.
However, the two players do share a similar style of play, as Coman and Sancho both like to dribble, play short passes and do layoffs (as per WhoScored), so it may be understandable why United may be targeting the Bayern man as a Sancho alternative.