Serge Gnabry: Man Utd's perfect Antony upgrade or a waste of €55m?

Tom Weber

• Updated: 19 Dec 2023 16:36 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United's need for a new right winger is becoming clear.

Jadon Sancho continues to be in exile after essentially calling Erik ten Hag a liar on social media and Antony, despite actually playing better in recent games, still has not racked up a single goal contribution this season. In fact, the Brazilian has not scored a competitive goal since April.

No wonder, then, that the Red Devils continue to be linked with right-wingers ahead of the January transfer window. Yet, Man Utd won't be able to splash the cash in the winter. While recent reports suggest that Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment could go through before Christmas, Financial Fair Play concerns still linger.

In the summer, the Manchester giants spent lavishly despite FFP questions and this will restrict their ability to pursue deals in January. Players will need to be sold and, while four stars have reportedly been transfer-listed, many players will simply be unattainable in the winter.

There is, however, one right-winger out there who will be available in 2024: Serge Gnabry.

Is Gnabry Man Utd's answer?

The German international is currently nursing an injury and was in poor form prior to his spell on the sidelines, so much so in fact that Bayern were comfortable with already announcing a replacement for him for the summer in Granada's Bryan Zaragoza.

According to German media, Gnabry will be on the market for €55 million - a whopping €15m in excess of his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV). The 28-year-old is perhaps the most attainable, high-profile player out there for United in January, but would he be a good signing?

It must be said, at this point, most right-wingers would be an upgrade on Antony. Gnabry, despite his poor form this term, continues to be a highly-rated player. Data experts SciSports, for example, believe that he would walk straight into Man Utd's team and be their best player in terms of ability.

Yet, despite this, SciSports do not believe that he would automatically be a good fit for Erik ten Hag's side. On the contrary, they are not convinced that Gnabry is a player the Red Devils should pursue; he's simply not suited to Man Utd - and vice versa.

Using SciSports' Career Advice tool, we can see that Gnabry has a poor Club Fit rating of just 56 at Man Utd, some twenty points worse off than his best option, Real Madrid, at 76.

But even if we were to ignore what the data is saying, there is also the common sense argument. Of course, Man Utd, already out of Europe and the Carabao Cup and hamstrung by a misfiring attack, will need all the firepower they can get to qualify for the Champions League via the Premier League.

But signing Gnabry wouldn't make sense, especially not for €55m. The German is 28, has had nine injuries since the beginning of the 2021/22 season and has only scored one goal this term - against the Red Devils, ironically. Even if Man Utd were to be able to muster the resources required to sign him, that money would be better spent on other players.