Is this Bundesliga defender the ideal upgrade on Wan-Bissaka?

Stefan Bienkowski

• 25 Sept 2021 12:23 BST
• 7 min read

Manchester United have spent a fortune upgrading certain positions of their squad this season.

Cristiano Ronaldo will add goals up front, Jadon Sancho will hopefully add assists from the wings and Raphael Varane will hope to keep them out down the opposite end of the pitch.

However that doesn’t mean Man Utd’s spending spree has come to an end or that the club don’t need new recruits.

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According to a report in Fichajes, the club are looking at RB Leipzig defender Nordi Mukiele as a potential replacement and upgrade to Aaron Wan-Bissaka at right-back.

So what type of player is Mukiele and would he be an upgrade on Wan-Bissaka?

What kind of player is Mukiele?

Like most of RB Leipzig’s players, Mukiele was scooped up from his local team at just 18 years of age, when the Bundesliga side paid Montpelier £14.4 million for the defender in 2018.

Since then, Mukiele has quickly established himself as an extremely useful defender, either by playing as a central defender at times, or more often as a right-back or right wing-back for the Saxony side.

It’s this ability to play a number of positions that undoubtedly makes Mukiele a smart player for Man Utd to be scouting, however the young French talent has yet to truly nail down a defining role for himself in Germany.

Is he better than Wan-Bissaka?

It’s usually very hard to compare two different defenders from two different leagues and in the case of Mukiele there isn’t a huge amount of evidence to suggest he would offer an alternative or even better performances than what Man Utd already get from Wan-Bissaka.

The biggest criticism levelled at the Old Trafford full-back is that he doesn’t provide enough assists from the wing, but Wan-Bissaka’s assists for last season stood at six, while Mukiele managed just two.

Although the French defender is perhaps better on the ball due to his ability to play as a wide midfielder or a winger, that doesn’t mean he’s actually any better at creating chances for his team mates.

As such, if Man Utd are looking for a more attack-minded full-back then they would probably do well to look elsewhere.