Man Utd star shows Amrabat signing was a glaring mistake
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 9 Sept 2023 09:28 BST
- 4 min read
Manchester United were transfixed on bringing Sofyan Amrabat to the club for much of the summer transfer window, but manager Erik ten Hag had a better option at his disposal in the form of Scott McTominay in his ranks all along.
The Red Devils have committed to signing the Morocco player on loan from Fiorentina, yet he does not offer an upgrade on what they had previously in their squad.
Ten Hag has shown favouritism towards Man Utd players he knows from previous roles throughout his year at Old Trafford – Antony over Jadon Sancho being perhaps the most damning recent example – and now his insistence on casting aside McTominay is set to be another glaring error.
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The Scotland international has just seven minutes of football behind him for Man Utd this season, yet continues to show with his national team that he is both a midfielder of both quality and versatility.
McTominay sits atop the Euro 2024 scoring charts in qualifying alongside Man Utd teammate Rasmus Hojlund and former Old Trafford striker Romelu Lukaku. He has six goals in five games; no other midfielder has more than three.
Pigeonholed as a defensive midfielder, he has shown with Steve Clarke’s side that he is capable of playing a notch up, while he has also played as a centre-back at times. Given he correct trust, he can play across the centre of the park and even started his career as a forward – surely an option in a pinch for Ten Hag given his lack of options there and the acumen that McTominay has shown are the box for Scotland?
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McTominay better than Amrabat
The evidence that McTominay should have been persevered with is also statistical.
According to data analytics experts SciSports, the 26-year-old is superior to Amrabat. Analysing hundreds of in-game data points, McTominay has been given a SciSkill score of 101 compared to Amrabat’s 93.
The gap is closing, but that is due to a lack of playing time at Man Utd for the Scot, who has climbed as high as 111 in the past.
Of course, Man Utd will argue that Amrabat is a low-risk addition on loan from Fiorentina, yet in a time when the Glazers are penny-pinching, the €10 million they have invested in the player this year could have been invested elsewhere. Another €25m could follow next summer.
Ten Hag’s trust in the players he knows is admirable and will certainly have them fighting tooth and nail for him, but in the case of McTominay, he is ready to sacrifice a better player for this sheer commitment.
Bayern Munich, West Ham and Newcastle all monitored him closely in the summer and will likely return in January to try to complete a move that will take more away from Man Utd than many will ever appreciate.
