Manchester United are in need of new players if they are to truly compete for the Premier League title. When that is the case, then a new player will be linked with the Red Devils basically on a daily basis. In the previous months that has been Toby Alderweireld and then, after a good World Cup with England, Harry Maguire popped up.
While these two centre-backs were mostly logical names to be in the conversation, as they both possess great quality and there is a realistic chance of getting them, plenty of other names are not falling into the same bracket. That was the case with Marquinhos of PSG, Jerome Boateng of Bayern Munich and then Yerry Mina from Barcelona. Now it is Ante Rebic’s turn.
How Does Rebic Play?
The Croatian winger is the latest player to be mentioned as a possibility to join Manchester United this summer. The reported fee for the Eintracht Frankfurt man is 44 milion pounds, or somewhere around 50 million euros. Whether that price would be a realistic one or a plausible sum for United to spend on Rebic, let’s delve into why this deal most probably will not happen.
Manchester United need a right winger. Ante Rebic can play as the right winger, but he is not that in his essence. The 23-year old Croat has played most of the times as a striker in a 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 formation and he was mostly used on the left of that pairing. His performances at Eintracht Frankfurt had also seen him play on the left wing and occasionally behind the striker and on the right.
However, a look into his shot map across last three seasons (with Eintracht, Verona and Fiorentina) shows that he was mostly playing on the left. Just around 10 percent of all of his shots could be characterized as coming from the right hand side of the pitch. Most of the time, whether he is on the left wing or playing as a second striker, Rebic likes to cut in from the left and shoot with his right foot. That is the last thing Manchester United need now.
He Is Not Something United Need
Ante Rebic is 23 and his performances in the past 12 months show that he could have a great career. After all, he just played in a World Cup final! However, that should not be enough for him to become new Manchester United player in summer of 2018. His potential is high, but probably not as high as being the starting winger for Man United and thus being one of their most important players. His ceiling looks like being a good backup to come off the bench.
That is not bad in its own. Not everyone can reach the top of the top, but United spending 44 million on a player in a position they already have filled and hoping that he might become good enough to be a starter is something the club does not need. Yet, his great performances at the World Cup, where he showed strength, technical ability and single mindedness to do what he was asked to do, made a case for him being linked with United.
That simply had to happen.
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