United can now forget about a move for Sancho
IT would have taken the most optimistic United fan to believe Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would find himself with three feasible right-wing options, having missed out on Jadon Sancho in the summer.
The general consensus, after the Reds were unwilling to match Borussia Dortmund’s asking price for the England ace, was that it would leave a big hole in the side.
Yes, United had Mason Greenwood as a viable right-winger - as the teenager proved emphatically after Project Restart - but this was a young striker playing out of position.
Ultimately, the Reds felt they had a responsibility to protect the long-term strength of the club by not over-paying for a player - even though he was a priority - in a summer when Covid-19 restricted budgets.
They were clear to state they didn’t delay looking at other options and on summer deadline day they considered purchases and loan signings, but only wanted to bring in high-quality and motivated players who ticked all the boxes Sancho did.
Ousmane Dembele and Ismaila Sarr were considered, but United contented themselves with two young wing additions in Facundo Pellistri and Amad Diallo.
Nobody is expecting either of those unknown teenagers to fill the right-wing void in the short-term and nor should they. Pellistri, having impressed for United’s Under-23s so far, still awaits his first-team debut while Diallo is arriving this month from Atalanta.
But Solskjaer had to seek alternatives aside from the young duo from an attack comprising Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Daniel James and Odion Ighalo.
The latter is on his way back to Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua and James is still a work in progress, impressing more when he’s fielded on the left flank in any case.
Cavani was brought in to give Martial competition in the centre-forward so that left Solskjaer just one other option in Rashford.
The Wythenshawe-born United academy product had been trialled on the right in the past, but in all truth he should have been tried there more often. He has the pace, trickery and selfless attitude needed to play out of position wherever Solskjaer needs him. With Juan Mata enjoying a renaissance campaign in an inverted wideright role, United have coped better than most could have imagined, having not signed Sancho.
Solskjaer’s decisions to push Paul Pogba or Donny van de Beek into wide roles and Cavani’s arrival down the middle have given United greater versatility in their attacking line-up.
It was previously thought they were in Sancho or bust territory. But now, having at least three options of their own to play right-wing, while Sancho goes through struggles of his own at Dortmund this season there are many persuading United to drop their interest altogether.