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During his 2-and-a-half year tenure with Manchester United, Jose Mourinho let 17 players leave the club. While he was right to sell most of the players, the Portuguese did turn quite a few heads with some of his decisions. Mourinho, unfortunately, did not last at United, and when the Red Devils opted for Ole Gunnar Solskaer as his replacement, the club was looking to get back to their roots. However, the Norwegian’s rebuilding exercise has hardly gone according to plan.
One of the main problems at United right now is a relatively thin squad. Perhaps Mourinho was too hasty in selling a couple of players, who would have been well suited for Solskjaer’s tactics. Here, we take a look at 2 players sold by the Portuguese, who would have been invaluable for the Norwegian.
#2 Memphis Depay
This could be up for debate. The Dutchman was brought to Manchester United by Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2015. Memphis Depay, just 21 years old at that time, was one of the hottest young talents in Europe. Arsenal, PSG as well as Liverpool were few of the European heavyweights keeping tabs on him, but it was United who won the race for his signature. The future looked bright for the Dutchman, who even requested and received the coveted No. 7 shirt for the Red Devils.
After a good start to his time at Old Trafford, Depay saw a drop of form and never recovered. He failed to find a way back to the team under Jose Mourinho and was subsequently sold to Lyon in January 2017, having scored just 7 goals from 53 games. Since then, however, the Dutchman has turned his career around and has been fantastic for the Ligue 1 side. Memphis Depay has now scored 45 goals from 125 games for Lyon. In a season where Solskjaer has seen most of his front men falter, perhaps Memphis Depay would have brought quite a few positives to the table.
The Dutchman represents a fantastic combination of speed and trickery that would suit Solskjaer’s style of play. His goal scoring form is an added bonus, while Depay also brings character and confidence to the table. It is highly unlikely that Solskjaer will be vying for him in the future.
#1 Daley Blind
The biggest reason why Solskjaer would have loved to have Daley Blind in his Manchester United squad is the versatility of the Dutchman. Blind is equally comfortable as a left-back, centre-back or defensive midfielder for his team and the Norwegian could certainly use his experience in the team right now.
Blind joined Manchester United in August 2014, on transfer deadline day and soon became an important member of the team under Louis van Gaal. Blind was used extensively as the defensive midfielder in his first season but soon went on to appear at left-back as well as a centre-back. However, Jose Mourinho opted to sell him back to Ajax in the summer of 2018 and the Dutchman has been a revelation since. He formed an almost impenetrable centre-back partnership with Matthijs de Ligt at Ajax last season and even managed to score a hattrick while playing as a centre-back.
Since his departure, Manchester United have stuttered both in defence and midfield, so Blind could have been a vital option for Solskjaer right now. His passing ability would have been an asset in midfield, where United are dangerously thin. Unfortunately, that ship has long sailed away.
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