Manchester United’s centre-back depth has been questioned over the previous couple of seasons, and Ruben Amorim might want to assess who’s at his disposal.
Regardless of including Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt to their choices on the coronary heart of the defence, it nonetheless seems like they don’t fairly have the standard or availability of their squad.
One of many newcomers, Yoro, is but to play for the membership, though De Ligt has performed well since making the transfer from Bayern Munich. Lisandro Martinez appears to have put his health points behind him, Jonny Evans has been a great squad participant over the previous two seasons, and Victor Lindelof is simply on the perimeter of the primary group now.
One other of their first-team centre-backs who may cut up opinion is Harry Maguire.
Maguire’s Man United profession
England worldwide Maguire joined the 13-time Premier League champions in 2019, signing from Leicester Metropolis for £80m, a price that’s nonetheless a world file for a defender. He has actually had a blended time of issues at United.
In whole, the previous membership captain has made 215 appearances for the membership, scoring 12 targets and grabbing eight assists in that point, one in all which got here within the FA Cup semi-final final season, a trophy United went on to carry.
Maguire was very good underneath Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and was made the captain simply months into his Outdated Trafford profession. Nonetheless, upon the United legend’s sacking in 2021, he fell out of favour and has struggled to lock down a daily first-team spot.
This got here to a head underneath former supervisor Erik ten Hag, with the Dutchman stripping the captaincy from United’s quantity 5 and giving it to Bruno Fernandes. Regardless of this setback, Maguire acted like a mannequin skilled and easily continued to work exhausting for a beginning berth.
Sadly, the Englishman has struggled with injuries in latest occasions. Maguire has missed 4 video games already this time period, and final season was much more; he was sidelined for 17 video games in a marketing campaign the place his health issues have been irritating.
It stays to be seen whether or not or not Maguire will stay at Outdated Trafford past the 2024/25 season. His contract expires in June, however United can set off a one-year extension. With that in thoughts, new boss Amorim might properly resolve to chop his losses and promote the skilled defender, very like Ten Hag reportedly planned to do.
If that’s the case, the Pink Devils have an excellent younger alternative within the esteemed Carrington academy who may very well be able to step into the fold in a couple of years.
United’s academy centre-back prodigy
The participant in query right here is Godwill Kukonki. At simply 16 years of age, he’s extremely rated by many at Outdated Trafford, along with his inclusion in first-team coaching described as “thrilling” by Manchester Evening News journalist Steve Railston. He’s, nonetheless, but to make a senior look for the membership.
Kukonki is a left-footed centre-back, who’s exceptionally proficient on the ball. He has performed all of his soccer up to now for the Pink Devils under-18 aspect, each domestically and within the UEFA Youth League. Nonetheless, he has featured on the bench as soon as within the Premier League 2.
This time period, the defender has featured eight times within the under-18s Premier League, and as soon as within the UEFA Youth League. Not solely has he confirmed to be a wonderful defender, however also can chip in with targets, and has three aim involvements to his identify this season.
A superb instance of the teenager’s expertise got here within the European fixture, away to Lithuanian aspect FK Zalgiris under-19s. Not solely did he showcase versatility by beginning at left-back, however Kukonki was composed on the ball, finishing 90% of his passes and grabbing an help, as per Sofascore.
|
Kukonki stats vs. FK Zalgiris |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Quantity |
|
Move accuracy |
90% |
|
Touches |
78 |
|
Passes accomplished |
53/59 |
|
Dribbles accomplished |
2 |
|
Floor duels gained |
2 |
|
Clearances |
2 |
|
Assists |
1 |
|
Stats from Sofascore |
|
The primary group may very well be a little bit too far out of attain but for Kukonki. Nonetheless, Amoirm is a supervisor who believes in academy gamers and gave 27 Sporting youth players their debut.
Mix that with United’s ethos of believing within the academy, and a debut for the teenager will not be out of the query if he continues to thrive, thus placing Maguire’s standing within the squad at additional danger.
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