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The buzz around Mason Greenwood’s scintillating form for Manchester United is perhaps only eclipsed by that of his teammate, Bruno Fernandes - but the performances of the youngster shouldn’t stop Manchester United pursuing Jadon Sancho.
Multiple transfer windows have come and gone, and United should count themselves fortunate Greenwood burst onto the scene to fill the void on the right-wing, and it’s now easy to forget that Greenwood’s favoured position is through the middle.
Signing a genuine right-winger has to become a priority at Manchester United, as in 2020/21 the side will look to implement its first genuine title challenge in the eight seasons since Sir Alex Ferguson departed from the dugout.
Manchester United's fourth permanent manager in that time is finally steering the ship in a direction that has a destination, rather than aimlessly navigating the waters of turgid football.
Liverpool romped their way to the title this season, with their success only cast in shadow by the coronavirus pandemic and a possible season cancellation. Manchester City never truly looked to be the beast they were last season, as the 23-point chasm would indicate. The less said of the 34 points between Manchester United and Liverpool, the better.
Speaking purely in an attacking context, Liverpool has to count themselves lucky that none of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino sustained severe injuries this campaign. The drop in quality in their understudies of Divock Origi, Xherdan Shaqiri and Takumi Minamino is a dangerous situation for Jürgen Klopp to navigate - hence their pursuit of Timo Werner.
Klopp’s fears were exemplified in January when it seemed that the Africa Cup of Nations would be moved back to January. He would be without Salah or Mane for a maximum of six weeks.
For any team to lose two of its most crucial players is a hammer blow. But if you consider Manchester City’s squad for this season and use combined goals and assists as the metric, the same which provides Salah and Mane as Liverpool’s best players, the top two players are Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling.
Removing de Bruyne and Sterling from the squad still leaves David Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden in the mix. The English starlet has 16 goal involvement this season; Origi has seven. Foden and Origi average a goal involvement every 90 minutes and 185 minutes respectively.
The inability of Liverpool to implement any meaningful rotation throughout their season could be attributed as a deciding factor to the side ‘only’ winning the Premier League.
At one stage, they seemed on course for the treble. But then three fixtures in seven days saw Klopp’s side unceremoniously dumped from the FA Cup by Chelsea.
Solskjaer may even reflect upon his time amongst one of Manchester United’s most iconic sides in the 1998/1999 season. Himself, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham were all available as forwards, while Ryan Giggs and David Beckham offered their services out wide for Manchester United.
Manchester United’s current alternatives on the right-wing are an out-of-position Daniel James, Juan Mata, who is far better suited to the middle, or Diogo Dalot pushed forward - a role which he needs time to adapt to, if he is to become the jack-of-all-trades he is capable being.
It’s difficult not to make the argument that Sancho’s arrival would be something of a threat to the game-time Greenwood would have throughout the season. True, he may not play as much. But given the flurry of fixtures currently ahead of Manchester United, the ability to rotate and avoid injury is crucial.
If they make the Champions League next season, a condition fundamental to Sancho’s arrival, it will become even more important to bolster the squad with players capable of starting any fixture but maintaining quality in the side.
And removing pressure from the shoulders of Greenwood, not yet 19, may prove comforting for him and afford him the ability to play with the abandon many have come to admire.
Consideration has to be given to two influencing factors when comparing Sancho and Greenwood. Firstly, their playing time; Greenwood has featured 42 times for Manchester United this season - the fourth-most for the side - and amassed 2,107 minutes. Sancho meanwhile has turned out 44 times for Borussia Dortmund for a total of 3,266 minutes.
Additionally, Manchester United lack a genuine aerial threat with just five headers scored in the Premier League this season. Dortmund has seven in the Bundesliga.
Understat has recorded Greenwood’s Premier League xG this season for at currently 2.99 while his current goal tally rests one 9; Sancho’s xG in the Bundesliga is 10.75 and has realised a tally of 17.
But the crucial statistic to consider is not just his goals. Greenwood is playing out wide for Manchester United where the primary aim is to supply to a striker. Greenwood’s xA of 1.2 across all competitions pales in comparison to Sancho’s xA of 10.5. Which is partially a result of the style implemented by respective sides, but also indicates the relative comforts of each player.
Furthermore, Sancho’s 77 crosses this season and his 74 passes into the penalty area eclipse Greenwood’s numbers of 14 and 9 for Manchester United, respectively. But Greenwood’s shot tally of 72 is 20 better than Sancho’s.
The success of Greenwood’s season is perhaps an indicator that Anthony Martial has more to prove as Manchester United’s definite starting striker, than a threat to the signing of Sancho. But should the Dortmund star sign, Manchester United have four players who, between them, provide two options for left-wing, right-wing, and striker.
Sancho may secure Manchester United's long-term future
The purchase of Sancho would also be a long-term investment for Manchester United, who will look to maintain the process of restoration. But it would also be a pleasing sight for the England set-up, with Marcus Rashford playing alongside his international squad-mates at Manchester United.
United will hope to pass on Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez to bolster their pockets in the pursuit of Sancho, but it’s one they have to give all they can to complete. With any go Pogba’s would-be suitors unlikely to be able to pry him from Old Trafford, this could be the summer for which sees Solskjaer truly shift the tide at Manchester United.
