Wan-Bissaka disaster shows teams are taking the p**s out of Manchester United
Paul Macdonald
- Updated: 19 Aug 2022 10:25 BST
- 12 min read
The story of Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United is a perfect summation of two things.
Firstly, the club have no idea which way they want to play, how to scout them, and how to extract a good deal.
And secondly, that United are so disrespected now that it is open season on their transfer policy.
Wan-Biassaka was never a Man Utd player
Firstly, the initial deal. AWB in his time at Crystal Palace proved himself to be an exceptional ball-winning defender, with one of the highest tackle success rates in the Premier League, and an all-round enviable presence that wingers feared facing.
But that's just not the profile of a Manchester United full-back. Even a decade ago, Sir Alex Ferguson preferred to convert Antonio Valencia from winger to full-back because his skillset befitted that position in United's team more.
United should always be on the front foot, pushing full-backs high and generally controlling matches. The fact that United's rivals were all focused on making their players available in these positions more attacking, while United signed AWB, is a damning indictment of pretty much everything; talent identification, philosophy, and general understanding of the way the game was going.
Wan-Bissaka's Premier League performance
Man Utd are being bullied
Secondly, we're now in a situation where it is open season against the institution of Manchester United. As the team toils on the pitch and Erik ten Hag desperately looks for new players, agents and clubs are actively taking on the biggest club in the world.
As news emerged that Crystal Palace were interested in re-signing Wan-Bissaka - for £10m, a full 80% less than they paid for him in July 2019. It's a fishing exercise on behalf of Palace, taking on the vulnerable giant, to see what value they can extract.
Everyone else is at it, too. Bologna asking for an exorbitant fee for Marko Arnautovic. Agents of players like Asmir Begovic throwing their clients into the situation. Anyone who Ten Hag has ever met or had coffee with is touted as a potential arrival.
It's the time to take them on and why not? When such an organisation is so obviously in a position where they can be challenged, it makes sense. There are players there that still retain value.
Wan-Bissaka is not a bad player - far from it. In fact, he has the potential to be an excellent acquisition for a club further down the division that defends as much as they attack. He's still exceptionally good at that.
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And if you're an agent, you'd love to be able to say you got your client a move to Manchester United. And with the type of players being linked, it seems that nothing or no one is off the table.
And so the AWB deal is just indicative of where Manchester United are as a club at the moment, a team once top of the food chain now being made to look like mugs by the very teams they used to dominate. Sad, or hilarious? That depends on your point of view.
