Man Utd make transfer decision on problem position

Manchester United will wait until 2025 before addressing a severe problem position in their first-team squad.

Man Utd enter the closing week of the summer 2024 transfer window with two major problem positions: defensive midfield and left-back.

But while the Red Devils are going to spend considerable funds in order to secure a proper defensive midfielder to bolster their squad, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Manuel Ugarte the man of the moment, they are less driven to recruit a left-back.

READ MORE: Premier League summer transfers 2024: All the Done Deals

United fans are dismayed by the sad but unsurprising news that Luke Shaw, having not played a game for months before being eased back to fitness by England over the Euros culminating in him playing the full 90 minutes in the final, is once again injured and out of action for an indeterminate amount of time.

This dovetails annoyingly with Tyrell Malacia who is still out injured. The Dutch full-back last played for Man Utd on the final day of the Premier League season all the way back in May 2023.

As a result, Manchester United don’t have any left-backs. And with Shaw’s contract expiring at the end of the season, they need a left-back.

Man Utd will make do

But Erik ten Hag has decided to wait until January before moving to sign one, instead preferring to hope and pray for Shaw’s fitness while using Diogo Dalot in the role.

The Portuguese has played left-back before and with the presence of Noussair Mazraoui locking things down on the right, will likely be the main man on the left-flank for the rest of the year.

READ MORE: How Man Utd will line up with Manuel Ugarte

Indeed, Mazraoui is capable of playing left-back too albeit in a much less dynamic way than Dalot (as witnessed during the 2022 World Cup). Similarly Lisandro Martinez can also “do a job” at left-back as well.

None are ideal, of course, which is why Dalot remains United’s first and best choice to hold down the left side of defence until January 2025 when the club can invest new funds in securing a proper left-back to cover the flank on a more permanent basis.