Sport
The players surplus to requirements at Man Utd
The players surplus to requirements at Man Utd. With the official transfer window now open, clubs are looking to buy and sell efficiently in order to build up a roster ready for next season. In the past we’ve seen Manchester United take a relaxed and lethargic approach in dealing with new signings and selling-on players. For instance, it took the whole of David Moyes’s first summer window to sign Marouane Fellaini for £27m – after missing his £23m buy-out clause. Under José Mourinho, things will be and are different, new signings are brought in quickly and players who are not in his plans will be gone with immediate effect – providing they can find new clubs.
Here are three players who should be surplus to requirements:
Marouane Fellaini
Enough is enough. Fellaini may have been useful in a handful of games over the course of his three-year stay with Man United, but it’s now time to part ways. He’s a thug and a lump in midfield. The Belgian can rarely look up and complete a pass. If he’s played in a midfield duo, he’s a liability due to his inevitable yellow card early on, thanks to his elbows. If he’s played further forward, you’re sacrificing a more creative number 10 that can unlock defences and create something from nothing. And, well, if he’s played as a striker, you know there’s something deeply wrong. Fellaini’s still got two-years left on his contract with the Red Devils, so there’s still a promising fee waiting for him.
Antonio Valencia
Somehow, Valencia’s been around for years and people still don’t really understand what his best position is. Over the course of his career in Manchester, he’s played as a right-back, right-midfielder, central-midfielder, right-winger and even as a supporting striker. The Ecuadorian may be versatile in that aspect, but his lack of a left-foot is still alarming. At a club where you would expect them to kick on and properly challenge for titles once again, there should be no loose ends. Valencia is that. He’s served OK-ish under the three managers he’s had, but it’s time to move on and replace him with a specialist.
Phil Jones
The English centre-back that failed to push on. There’s an argument that Jones is still only 24-years-old and centre-back’s don’t normally hit their peaks until mid-to-late twenties, but when you look at players such as Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane, John Stones and Jose Gimenez, the Manchester United centre-back is so far behind these defenders who are a lot younger than him. There comes a point in everyone’s career where you’ve got to kick on and prove you’re worth sticking by; Chris Smalling showed that last season and has turned into a good centre-half. Jones’s lack of game time due to his continuous injury record is a problem, and unfortunately, without game time comes lack of experience and a limited chance to improve. As he’s English and relatively young for a defender, there’s a chance of recouping that £18m Manchester United paid Blackburn back in 2011.
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