It’s fair to say that Aaron Wan-Bissaka has enjoyed a fairly impressive debut campaign at Manchester United.
The right-back arrived from fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace last summer, and the £36m-rated ace has proven himself to be a consistently reliable performer for the Manchester outfit.
Despite missing a couple of league games this season, Wan-Bissaka has recorded 99 tackles in the top-flight, a number that actually puts him second in the rankings amongst all Premier League players – only Leicester’s Ricardo Pereira with 119 is at the top of that list.
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But one thing that is certainly still missing from the Englishman’s game at the moment, is his offensive contribution. As per Transfermarkt, in the 34 games that he has played across all competitions, he has failed to score at least once, and provided just two total assists.
That number simply isn’t good enough for a full-back at United, who want to be dominating the ball and creating chance after chance. One thing that has arguably not worked out in his favour, is having someone to genuinely provide him with some competition.
Wan-Bissaka has been the main man at right-back all season, and there will be that element in the back of his mind that even a poor performance wouldn’t see him get dropped from the team.
But if United can pull off a reported swoop for PSG’s Thomas Meunier, then that could be the key to unlocking his true potential. The Belgian has proven himself to be a very potent threat despite predominantly playing at full-back in his career – in the 228 games that he has played in that position throughout his career, he has scored 23 and assisted a further 34.
Having a more offensive-minded full-back like Meunier in the squad should serve to light a fire under Wan-Bissaka, whilst the former could also take his younger teammate under his arms and provide him with some valuable experience and tips.
So whilst he has been a defensive beast this season, a move for Meunier may be the defining factor in shaping the rest of Wan-Bissaka’s game.
Meanwhile, Man Utd fans react to the potential fee involved to sign Jack Grealish.