How ‘unchained’ Jess Park has become Man United’s undroppable force – and why she’s giving Sarina Wiegman a huge selection headache

Jess Park’s introduction to the Euros last summer came in the second half of their final group game against Wales, with the Lionesses already 4-0 up and a quarter-final spot all but confirmed.

Park had barely been on the field five minutes when a looping ball from Keira Walsh was floated into the box. Jumping to reach it, Park batted it towards goal with the inside of her right boot mid-air. She was already wheeling away to celebrate when she turned to see that the goalkeeper’s touch had caused the ball to bounce off the post and a Welsh defender had managed to clear it off the line.

Hands to her head, shoulders slumped, the disappointment that the move had not paid off was etched across the then 23-year-old Manchester City winger’s face. The rest of the game floated away, with Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones adding to England’s tally. The match ended 6-1, and that was that.

It was yet unknown to the youngster that those 46 minutes, when the Lionesses were under the least jeopardy in the tournament, would be the totality of her involvement. Park returned to the bench and spent the next three games watching from the sidelines as the Lionesses scraped past opponents to reach their second consecutive European title.

When she returned to City a few weeks later, she unselfishly told Daily Mail Sport how she had loved celebrating the victory, without a hint of resentment that she wished she had played more football. What was clear, however, was her eagerness to get going again.

‘I’ve had some nice time off and I think, with everyone who loves football, you just want to get back. I couldn’t wait to come back and get training,’ she said in August.

Those close to her say that her lack of game-time at the Euros had cut deep, and that it became fuel to make a bigger mark for Sarina Wiegman’s side.

Speaking to her at that time, and hearing about her love of playing for the club she had grown up supporting, there was little evidence to suggest that a move to City’s biggest rivals was on the cards. Sources have since confirmed that to be true.

Two weeks later, on deadline day, Park was hanging out in Manchester city centre eating crisps and drinking fizzy drinks, rewarding herself for having just completed her medical at Manchester United. She waited to hear whether her close friend and United midfielder, Grace Clinton, had also passed her medical, confirming their switch across town. 

Not getting too worried as the time ticked by, she was finally told she would be joining the team she had long seen as her biggest rivals as a City fan from Hull.

Her arrival at United marked the most surprising move of the summer transfer window. A gem of the City academy, she had made 122 appearances for the club – 12th in their all-time rankings despite being just 23 – and her consistently solid club performances had earned her a regular place in Wiegman’s set-up, if only in a part-time role.

An adept passer of the ball and well-versed in their grind-them-down possession-based tactics, Park featured regularly in City’s starting XI without regularly stealing the headlines.

At United, though, Skinner has managed to unlock something in Park that few could have predicted; she has quickly become one of the best, if not the best, midfielder in English women’s football at this moment in time. Her cabinet of Player of the Match trophies this season is bulging.

The 24-year-old has been a revelation at United this season, and her nine goals makes her the side’s top-scorer in all competitions

Those who know Park well say she would be just as happy playing on a five-a-side pitch as in front of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium. What drives her is having the ball at her feet, and that is exactly what United manager Marc Skinner has given her: a central role and the licence to play her own game.

Park, who has developed a strong bond with Skinner, has played every single possible game for United this season, and a few days ago claimed her fourth Player of the Month trophy out of an available six. She is United’s top scorer with nine in all competitions, and the highlights reel of her goals teems with someone whose confidence is sky-high. The majority have been taken from the edge of or outside the box, where she wriggles free from defenders to create herself an inch of space before firing into the corner.

At City, Park mainly played as a winger who hugged the touchline and regularly played short passes to her team-mates. At this same stage of the WSL season last term, she had played 574 passes to 511.

At United, she is operating across the entire front line. She has started primarily on the right on the team-sheet, but her heat maps reflects how she regularly cuts inside. The biggest numerical difference is with her dribbling. Last season she attempted 30 dribbles and completed 13; this season she has attempted 63 and completed 34.

She has created 18 chances compared to last season’s 16. Her conversion rate is also higher, with Park registering four assists this season compared to last season’s one.

Her on-pitch connection with Ella Toone, before her England team-mate’s injury, was also growing. Toone, who has regularly been United’s standout player, sometimes struggled to gel with Park’s predecessor Clinton due to their occupying similar spaces, but any fears of a repeat were quickly dismissed. Toone set up three of Park’s first four goals at United, and their understanding was flourishing until Toone’s injury in mid-December, which has kept her out of the United squad since.

The prospect of that dynamic resurfacing in the Lionesses set-up is certainly something England fans can look forward to.

The competition for a spot in Sarina Wiegman’s starting XI is fierce, and the Lionesses’ system and results to date mean Park will have to fight hard for her spot

As for Park, the idea that at City she was consistently ‘decent’ has been banished by the prospect of someone who has now made herself un-droppable at club – and now perhaps country too.

Despite her stellar season, breaking into Wiegman’s starting XI will be tricky. The competition is fierce, and the Lionesses’ system and results to date mean she will have to fight hard for her spot.

Wiegman has a trusted starting XI and style of play that may not provide Park with the same freedom she enjoys at United. Whether that will change remains to be seen – but Park has certainly given the Dutch coach a headache.

‘I think that maybe sometimes she’s been a bit on the chain and we’re letting her off it,’ Skinner said after Park’s full debut for United.

If Wiegman’s side has struggled to break down teams in the recent past, then perhaps an unchained Jess Park could be the perfect solution.