There are various different opinions about the quality of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but there’s no doubt that he’s an important part of the Man United side just now.
Everyone knows that he’s outstanding in 1 vs 1 situations and that does allow United to leave him alone against some very good players, but he’s pretty limited in an attacking sense.
He is a willing runner and he’s not terrible, but he will always look to take the safe option when it’s there and his delivery isn’t consistently good so he’s not a player that opposing teams need to plan for in an attacking sense.
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There has been a feeling that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants a more attacking option from full back, but Wan-Bissaka is one of the first names on the team sheet and he hasn’t done anything wrong that would warrant him being replaced.
It could be different if there was interest in him and he could be sold for a decent amount of money, and reports from Spain are indicating that Real Madrid are considering a move for him in the summer:
?”El REAL MADRID piensa en ACHRAF y WAN-BISSAKA para el lateral derecho”
La información de #INDA en #ChiringuitoInda pic.twitter.com/Jbmx9CFSo7
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) February 16, 2021
That would be an interesting move in itself as Real Madrid tend to celebrate defenders with attacking minds rather than defensive ones, so it would make more sense if they tried to bring Achraf Hakimi back from Inter Milan.
His exit would also allow Solskjaer to overhaul the right hand side of his defence, and that could help them in tighter games where they want to have a consistent overlapping threat on both sides.
The main problem with that comes in the current central defensive partnership – Maguire and Bailly/Lindelof need a lot of help and cover so they could be badly exposed if United have two wing backs who are looking to push higher up the field.
It could work if they sign someone who is comfortable on the ball and quick enough to snuff out attacking threats to partner Maguire, so it’s a situation where they would need to work on upgrading the defensive unit as a whole rather than simply signing a direct replacement.
It could even have a knock-on effect into the midfield where a more defensive combination would be needed behind Bruno Fernandes, so it’s an interesting situation which would test United’s ability in the transfer market and Solskjaer’s tactical ability to get the balance right.