How Man Utd director saved Wan-Bissaka's career... for now

James Shearman

• Updated: 10 Sep 2022 11:26 CDT
• 3 min read

Manchester United football director John Murtough saved Aaron Wan-Bissaka's career this summer by rejecting a move for Sergino Dest.

Barcelona were willing to sell Dest to United, as manager Erik ten Hag wanted, but Murtough declined in favour of Wan-Bissaka, according to The Athletic.

The director wanted to give the ex-Crystal Palace man another chance, despite poor form in the last campaign.

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But Ten Hag is still not willing to play Wan-Bissaka, even though he missed out on his transfer target, as Diogo Dalot has started all seven of the Red Devils' Premier League games this season.

The Dutch manager will be disappointed to miss out on Dest, but he was backed with £230 million in the window on six players, including former Ajax stars Lisandro Martinez and Antony.

Dest ended up at AC Milan, on a season-long loan with an option to buy the Amaerican for £17.5m.

The Serie A champions beat off interest from Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal to sign the 21-year-old, according to The Sun.

Why Wan-Bissaka has failed at Man Utd

In Wan-Bissaka's time at Crystal Palace, he proved himself to be an exceptional ball-winning defender, with one of the highest tackle success rates in the Premier League, and an all-round enviable presence that wingers feared facing.

But that's just not the profile of a Manchester United full-back. Even a decade ago, Sir Alex Ferguson preferred to convert Antonio Valencia from winger to full-back because his skillset befitted that position in United's team more.

Wan-Bissaka is not a bad player - far from it. In fact, he has the potential to be an excellent acquisition for a club further down the division that defends as much as they attack. He's still exceptionally good at that.

But United should always be on the front foot, pushing full-backs high and generally controlling matches.

The fact that United's rivals were all focused on making their full-backs more attacking, while United signed AWB, is a damning indictment of pretty much everything; talent identification, philosophy, and general understanding of the way the game was going.