The season for Manchester United has started and we are getting closer to the final days of transfer window. Teams who have not done their job in the market well enough are going to try and sign more players.
Everton are expected to do the same even after spending huge amounts of money already. Tottenham Hotspur have bought only Davinson Sanchez so far and should do more business in final 10 days of the window. But what about Manchester United? They have signed only three faces. Should Jose Mourinho chase to get at least one more? In a word, no. Here is why.
Team Is Well Settled
In this transfer window Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof all joined Manchester United. The Belgian striker arrived in club’s second highest transfer and already started scoring goals.
Matic made influence on the team just 18 hours since his first practice at the club, in a friendly against Sampdoria. He duly continued doing that in matches against Real Madrid, West Ham and Swansea.
On the other hand, Lindelof is still not integrated part of the starting XI. It is expected Mourinho will do so slowly, integrating him as the time goes by, similarly to Henrikh Mkhitaryan last season. But, the new signings are already fitting well, with Lukaku and Matic already visibly improving the team.
Plenty Of Options For Manchester United
First and foremost, Manchester United are well stocked at all positions. Antonio Valencia and Mateo Darmian are options at right back, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones now have Lindelof alongside them and Daley Blind is not the only left-back choice. Darmian can step in if needed and Luke Shaw is still at the club.
Midfield is filled with quality players. Matic and Pogba started two Premier League matches, but there are also Ander Herrera, Andreas Pereira, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini. In front of them are Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Mkhitaryan, complemented with Anthony Martial and Ashley Young.
The only position where Manchester United might be lacking backup option is the striker. Lukaku is the only real number 9, as both Martial and Rashford can step in if necessary. Yet, they are not ideal solutions and a new striker could be needed. And the final argument…
Zlatan Is Coming Back
Manchester United do not need to buy a new striker as they are possibly going to offer new contract to their best goal-scorer last season. It is understood that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be signing new contract with the Reds before the end of the transfer window.
He would be of great use to Mourinho and not only on the pitch. The experienced Swedish striker would be very useful with his leadership skills around the squad. His voice matters very much and younger players would listen to everything he has to say.
Yet, on the pitch is where he could still contribute. Many pundits were sceptical of his move Man United last year, but he showed how good he is even at 35. Across Premier League and Europa League, Ibrahimovic scored 22 goals and assisted another eight. He would not be needed to be the first choice striker, but Romelu Lukaku could learn a lot from such an experienced striker.
I agree with almost everything that you, so eloquently, assert. However:
….. it is clear that Mourinho wants and needs a reliably competent traditional left-winger.
Perisic is not credibly available, and he is clearly NOT going to come in time to participate in this season’s competition.
Nevertheless, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain DOES seem to want to move on to better things than he is currently experiencing at Arsenal, and I really do believe that he is capable of providing:
the speed; stamina; physical power; and determination; to get in behind top class defenders [ on either wing, or through the middle ] and provide reliably exquisite service to Lukaku, Ibrahimovic, Martial and Rashford.
I also have no doubt that the likes of: Demitri Mitchell; Andreas Pereira; et al; would benefit hugely from his influence in terms of single-minded tenacity, determination and resolute intention to win.