Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been told he needs to improve the attacking side of his game by former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick.
The right-back has had a mixed start to life at Old Trafford since joining from Crystal Palace last season, and Chadwick admits it’s a different demand playing full-back for a club like Palace compared to a big name like Man Utd.
Although Chadwick is a big fan of Wan-Bissaka for the defensive side of his game, he admits the 23-year-old has a “responsibility” to provide an attacking threat from that position.
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This comes amid reports that United are considering signing a new right-back, with the Red Devils supposedly keen to provide competition for Wan-Bissaka, according to ESPN.
Despite this, Chadwick insists he still thinks Wan-Bissaka could be a world class player if he can work on his delivery from crosses to go alongside his strong defensive game.
Still, Match of the Day flagged up moments in the first half of the Southampton game where United had no width being offered from the full-back positions, and it’s something that’s been raised as a concern with Wan-Bissaka before.
When asked about Wan-Bissaka’s role in the team, Chadwick told CaughtOffside: “I think everyone’s used to United playing with great width, balls coming into the box, and an exciting brand of attacking football. The full-back’s responsibility is to get forward and provide that width.
“I think Wan-Bissaka’s obvious strength is his defensive ability, his one-v-one defending is second to none really, but when he gets up the pitch he is a bit inconsistent with his final ball.
“That has shown some improvement over the past 12 months, and it’s something he needs to carry on improving. If he can do that he’ll be a world, world class right-back.
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“He is still very young … hopefully with enough practice he will improve that final ball. Obviously the shining light in that respect is Trent Alexander-Arnold, another young man who perhaps doesn’t have the same defensive ability as Wan-Bissaka, so it’s about getting that balance right and I’m sure with time he’ll improve.
“At Palace – obviously a lesser team to Man United – you maybe see the strengths of Wan-Bissaka more because they spend more time defending. Of course in the games against the other top teams he needs to be on it and I think we’ve seen his defensive ability shine through.
“It’s just a case of keep improving, keep practicing, because he’s certainly got the athletic ability to get up and down that right-hand side, and he gets into good crossing positions. It’s just that final ball that sometimes lets him down.
“I don’t think there’s a better defensive right-back in the Premier League at the moment and I think he has improved a lot at United because he has more time on the ball, but that delivery still needs a bit of work.”