The veteran, the England star or the wildcard – Man Utd have three options for key signing

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 25 Jul 2024 09:59 BST
• 5 min read

It’s a busy summer for Manchester United, with Erik ten Hag’s side seeking to plug multiple gaps in their squad.

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the left-back role is one of the positions they are working hard to find support for. There are ongoing doubts over the fitness of both Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw, while the Red Devils want to avoid the situation they experienced last term when they were forced to play without a natural player in that role for periods.

The Daily Mirror indicates there are three main targets for Man Utd in this area this summer: free agent Marcos Alonso, Feyenoord’s David Hancko and Tyrick Mitchell of Crystal Palace.

Which of this trio should United make as their leading target though?

READ MORE: Latest Man Utd transfer rumours

Marcos Alonso

Although Romano claims that United have not made contact with Alonso or his representatives, the former Chelsea player is readily attainable given his status as a free agent.

On top of this, he is the most natural attacking full-back of the trio. Last season, for example, he made around twice as many overlapping runs, carries and crosses as the average Premier League full-back.

Alonso also overperformed in terms of expected assists and passes into the final third.

The drawback for the Spaniard, though, is that he would not easily fit into Erik ten Hag’s style of play. Data analytics experts SciSports give him a Club Fit score of only 60. This is based around a number of factors, including playing style and formation. Like Shaw and Malacia, he has also has injury troubles, missing much of last term with back trouble.

At 33 years old, he is not the type of profile that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos group have envisioned for Man Utd going forward, but as an experienced figure, he could offer a fine one-season stop-gap.

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

STATS

Marcos Alonso

D (C)

null

Marcos Alonso

D (C)

null

All Tournaments

2023/24

• 8

  Games

• 0

  Goals

• 0

  Assists

View all stats

Tyrick Mitchell

Crystal Palace’s Mitchell is the most natural option when it comes to what Ratcliffe is looking to build at Man Utd. At 24, he is an England international who still has room to improve his game.

One concern over Mitchell is a lack of offensive production, despite netting against Man Utd in a 4-0 win in May. Throughout his top-level career of 144 matches, he has only three goals and eight assists. These are figures that offer an echo to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who United signed for €55 million from Palace in 2019 but has fallen out of favour due to a lack of attacking quality.

Mitchell was below average among Premier League full-backs in terms of expected assists, around par in terms of overlapping runs and crosses, but well below the middle mark in terms of regaining possession.

Although the most talented of the three players Man Utd are looking at in terms of his SciSkill score, which is based around hundreds of in-game data points, he is ill-suited to the Old Trafford outfit in terms of Club Fit. He scores only 65, with United offering him poor development opportunities, limited playing time and a style and formation that does not suit him.

A smart signing on paper, this is one the analytics suggest won’t work.

Current ETV

T. Mitchell

D, M (L)

C. Palace

T. Mitchell

D, M (L)

C. Palace

€19.8M

ETV Range

€14.9M - €24.8M

View full profile

David Hancko

Feyenoord’s Hancko offers something of a wildcard solution. The 26-year-old spent last term primarily playing as a centre-back in the Eredivisie, but there is an increasing trend for central defenders to feature wide.

Pep Guardiola has led the way with this at Manchester City, where he has deployed Josko Gvardiol at left-back. Could Ten Hag do the same with Hancko?

The Slovakia international fulfilled that role at Euro 2024, including against England in the last 16.

Hancko, meanwhile, is well suited to the Red Devils, according to SciSports. He scores a Club Fit of 80, with strong potential development as well as in terms of style and formation.

With an Expected Transfer Value (ETV) of €35m, he appears a player ready to take a step up and with his ability to play central or on the left, is someone who can solve two problems Man Utd are currently facing.