Manchester United fans spent most of 2019 rightly worried.
The results with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have been disappointing and the performances often listless. But fans have been constantly told by the club’s hierarchy not to panic. There was a plan, a project to be trusted.
There were many doubters, understandably. However, before the suspension of football, United was engaged in an unbeaten 11-game game in all competitions and had risen to fifth place on the Premier League table, three points behind Chelsea in fourth place.
What was perhaps most encouraging was the flexibility that Solskjaer’s team had shown in that race. Back three or back four, two top or lone striker, United has continued to garner results.
“We have worked together throughout the season, we have gone through difficult times and we are ready to kick off,” the manager of United said after a 5-0 win in the Europa League against LASK in March. “We are not happy with 11 unbeaten because I don’t think that’s the mentality of these players.”
Bruno Fernandes’ arrival in January was instrumental for United’s recovery in form. It was a vital piece of Solskjaer’s attacking puzzle, but not the last.
Solskjaer may have used several systems in this term, but his result was a 4-2-3-1. With a team in good shape, Marcus Rashford would have played from the left, Fernandes as n. 10 and Anthony Martial in command.
Who fills the right spot? In an ideal world, Jadon Sancho. United wants Borussia Dortmund’s star, but Ed Woodward has already registered to say that the recent suspension in football will change summer affairs.
That’s why the club could instead, according to the Spanish outlet transfers, contact Ferran Torres of Valencia.
The 20 year old has cemented himself as a regular starter for Which This season and its performances have led to admiring looks from clubs across Europe, including Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
That his contract expires in the summer of 2021 – and that talks to extend it have proved unsuccessful – Valencia is likely to have to cash out this summer. And for much less than its £ 87 million acquisition clause.
Torres is not Sancho. He does not have the same explosive acceleration and is not agile when he runs directly against a defender. Also this season he has not accumulated assistance after assistance.
It would not be fair to compare the two in pure numbers; they play in different countries and Dortmund is much more dismissive than Valencia. So instead, we will focus on how Spain under-21 collides with its La Liga contemporaries.
Torres averages 0.86 assists per hit every 90 minutes this season, the seventh best of any La Liga wing, which translates to 0.24 assists per 90, again the seventh highest among players in width.
He is also scoring an average of 0.19 goals for 90 during this period, the same figure as his expected goals for 90. This shows that Torres can rely on to take an opportunity when he is in a good position to score.
The hardest skill, however, is entering those positions on a consistent basis and is something that needs improving.
Torres’ game has faded, however, far beyond his years. Often he moves within the lines to receive the ball and can therefore play incisive and inventive passages in the third final.
This is why there is a growing school of thought that Torres will move to the number 10 role in the future, following in the footsteps of David Silva, another graduate of the Valencia Academy.
But for now it is firmly established as the right wing, one that would offer balance and creativity to the improving part of Solskjaer.
Torres may not have the same thriving reputation as Sancho but he doesn’t doubt his talent. He could demonstrate exactly what United needs: the last piece of the puzzle.
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