Manchester United’s humble brag that they scouted over 800 right-backs before settling on the £50million signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka has left them with so much egg on their face it looks as though they’ve taken a dive in a chicken coop.
It isn’t the first time the powers that be at United have unnecessarily put their foot in their mouth but this instance paints a damning picture of those in charge of recruitment – because it seems unfathomable that they didn’t watch one right-back out of 804 that would be better suited to the team.
Even when Wan-Bissaka’s stock couldn’t be higher after breaking into the Crystal Palace team as a teenager and putting in some excellent displays, it was obvious that he was a very defensive-thinking right-back.
Although he actually started his career as a forward, Wan-Bissaka rarely ventured too far past the halfway line for the Eagles and earned his reputation by being next to impossible to get past, as he quickly established himself as one of the best tacklers in the entire Premier League.
Under the stewardship of Roy Hodgson, a manager who liked to keep his teams compact and let the attackers do the attacking, Wan-Bissaka looked like an absolute star. Hodgson’s tactics suited him perfectly and his defensive prowess shone through, earning him a big-money move to Old Trafford.
The problem was then quite obvious. United wanted him to be a player that he simply isn’t.
