Next stage in Manchester United’s rebuild must include flying wingers

 If the games against West Ham, Everton and Crystal Palace told us anything, it was to underline why Manchester United are expected to be in the market for a left winger this summer.

United may have taken seven points from those three matches but they also highlighted the importance of having wide players on both flanks who can stretch the pitch against opponents willing to sit in, pack the midfield and ask to be broken down.

Patrick Dorgu’s hamstring injury has robbed United of width down the left flank and his replacement in that position, Matheus Cunha, is a No 10 at heart who naturally favours coming inside.

There are some benefits to that, of course, and it would not be as much of an issue if United had a fast, dynamic, overlapping left-back routinely offering an outlet on Cunha’s outside.

But the days of Luke Shaw being able to provide that kind of service – as he once did in tandem with Marcus Rashford – are probably behind him and Noussair Mazraoui is right-footed, a right-back by trade and not a rampaging, attack-minded full-back.

The shortage of width down the left was very apparent in the first half against Palace, when Cunha’s eagerness to cut inside narrowed the pitch and played into their opponents’ hands. Shaw, who was substituted after 24 minutes because of illness, held his position and his replacement Mazraoui was never likely to start bombing forward all the time.

United trailed 1-0 at the interval and were grateful to see Maxence Lacroix sent off and Palace reduced to 10 men as thereafter much more space opened up. It was Cunha who won the penalty that saw Lacroix dismissed.

The past nine months have seen United move on four wingers – Rashford and Jadon Sancho joined Barcelona and Aston Villa on loan respectively, Alejandro Garnacho was sold to Chelsea for £40m and Antony’s successful loan spell at Real Betis was turned into a permanent transfer.

Ruben Amorim wanted them out, either because they were not the right fit for his 3-4-2-1 system or the new dynamic he sought in the dressing room, or a combination of both things.

Equally, it is important to stress that senior sources at Old Trafford maintain that all of those players would have been shipped out in some form or another regardless of the situation with Amorim, who was sacked in early January after just 14 months at the helm.

However, with Michael Carrick now in charge and United back playing a more familiar 4-2-3-1, the reality is United are short of a left winger and the head coach admitted it was an area they may seek to address in the summer transfer window.

“Yeah quite possibly, in certain ways,” Carrick said. “I think you’re always looking at the balance of the team and the squad to give you the utmost flexibility so it’s definitely something to look at for sure. But I think Matheus can play that at times.”

United’s transfer priority will be to sign a defensive midfielder to fill the void left by Casemiro, who is leaving at the end of the season, and with doubts over the future of Manuel Ugarte there could even be a couple of arrivals in the middle of the pitch.

The centre-back situation is also likely to need exploring with Harry Maguire out of contract in June and yet to agree a new deal, but recruiting a left winger is expected to form part of their thinking.

It is a position that would already have been filled had Antoine Semenyo not spurned their advances in favour of joining Manchester City and the Ghana international’s impact at the Etihad Stadium since his £62.5m move from Bournemouth in January is a reminder of why United wanted him.

United were still operating mostly in a 3-4-2-1 under Amorim but told Semenyo during talks that the plan was to use him on the left of a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1.

Whether that was a little confusing for the player given the Portuguese manager’s adherence to a back three is hard to know, but it was another example of the oddities around the Amorim era and experiment.

As a club historically, United are synonymous with flying wingers and returning to a system that employs them makes complete sense.

Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo are obvious options off the right – Mason Mount did some of his best work for Chelsea off that side too but is not a winger per se – but Dorgu’s absence has highlighted the need for more of a specialist in that left-wing position.

That will be all the more pressing should United return to the Champions League and need a bigger squad and more variety in attack, but Carrick believes they have more than enough for now.

“We can still be dangerous and I still think we can fill that spot,” he said. “We’ve got players to be able to do it. It’s not a huge concern at the moment.

“We always want to improve and we’re always thinking of that perfect scenario of mixing players together and connections and how it suits on the pitch.

“But Matheus has played that role and caused big problems and had big moments from playing wide or inside, so he’s doing well as well.”