Ole’s United are only three signings away from giving Liverpool and City a scare
GREEN shoots of recovery have been hard to find in Manchester United’s patchy season – but they are only three signings away from challenging Liverpool and Manchester City.
That may seem a bold statement about a team who have lost against Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Newcastle, West Ham, Watford and Burnley this season.
And manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has never been more than one defeat away from the next wave of ‘Ole out’ callers piling on to the Six-0-Six phone-in airwaves.
But here’s a thought – and United fans are welcome to tell me if I’m barking up the wrong tree.
If Solskjaer was handed £250million to go out and sign central defender Kalidou Koulibaly, playmaker Jack Grealish, and Jadon Sancho up front, Solskjaer’s best team would be capable of giving Liverpool and Manchester City a run for their money next season.
Before you rush for your keypads to disagree, consider the facts.
This season, United have beaten Chelsea three times.
They have beaten City twice. They have beaten Tottenham. And they are the only side to have taken a point from Liverpool in the Premier League.
If they had beaten teams nearer the bottom, in matches where they were expected to take home all the spoils, instead of sitting three points off the top four, they would be right on course for Champions League football next season.
As it is, Solskjaer could finish in the top four and win the FA Cup – where United face a reunion with Wayne Rooney against Derby in the fifth round. And I expect them to progress in the Europa League after Thursday night’s
1-1 draw with Bruges in Belgium.
He’s had one good transfer window where he landed Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James. Now he’s one good window away from putting out a team in his own image.
All of a sudden, the path to redemption is beginning to take shape. Add Koulibaly’s steel to Maguire, Wan-Bissaka and Brandon Williams or Luke Shaw in front of goalkeeper David De Gea, and on paper you have a strong defensive unit.
If a fit and motivated Paul Pogba holds the fort in midfield with a rejuvenated Fred or Scott McTominay, I think United would have a formidable screen for the back four.
Choose three from Bruno Fernandes, Grealish, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, with Sancho – or even
Harry Kane if he runs out of patience waiting for Tottenham to lift a trophy – as the main striker, and you’ve got an exciting mix of pace, power and flair.
For me, that would not just be a team equipped to finish in the top four: That starting XI could begin to think of a challenge for the title.
What becomes of Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and Andreas Pereira? They are all worthy squad players, but they would not be in my United starting XI next season.
Mata has been an exemplary professional, but his best days are probably behind him.
People talk about Lingard as a “young” player. He has done well in the past, and scored the winner in an FA Cup final, but he is 27. He should be in his prime.
And United need players in his forward position to contribute more than two goals – against Tranmere and Astana – by this stage of the season. Matic, I fear, has crested the mountain top like Mata, while Pereira, at 24, has not influenced enough games in a United shirt.
The key to landing Sancho (above, centre) in the summer would be to offer him Champions League football.
The key to landing Grealish (left) may rest on Aston Villa staying up or being relegated.
And the key to landing Koulibaly (right) is his age. He will be 29 in June, and it is important to sign defenders in their prime.
This is potentially an exciting summer for Solskjaer. He is not a million miles away – three top players, in my estimation – from making United a force again.
We know he has the tactical nous because Liverpool were grateful to escape from Old Trafford with a point this season, and United have won twice at City.
It’s taken seven years, since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, to reach this stage, but I’m calling it now.
Land those three big signings in the summer and Manchester United will be back in business.
THE United fans have spoken – they want to see Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane and Kalidou Koulibaly in a red shirt at Old Trafford next season.
As an experiment, I listed six potential United targets this summer and invited the supporters to say which three out of Sancho, Kane (below), Koulibaly, Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Moussa Dembele they would sign if the players were available.
More than 16,000 people voted – a fair sample of public opinion – and here are the results:
JADON SANCHO 62% HARRY KANE 54% KALIDOU KOULIBALY 32% JACK GREALISH 29% MOUSSA DEMBELE 14% JAMES MADDISON 9%