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Open up the back page of a newspaper and the chances are you will see Manchester United linked with a midfield target. Be it Koke, Arturo Vidal or Paul Pogba, it is pretty clear just by looking at their transfer targets that United are unlikely to be relying upon their current midfield for much longer. But with their creative targets likely to be unattainable in January, is the answer closer to home for David Moyes? We take a look at how 19-year-old loanee Nick Powell is progressing in the Championship with Wigan Athletic.
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Powell has impressed in the Championship and his recent FA Cup double against MK Dons took his goal tally in all competitions into double figures. In the wake of that match, Latics boss Uwe Rosler led the plaudits after the game, talking of his exciting talent.
“I feel after this season Manchester United will get a player back with more experience. That can only be good for everybody involved,” he said.
“What excites me about Nick is he can play everywhere. He came on as a midfielder, then I put him up front and in many games I play him in a wide position coming inside and I can play him as a number nine because he has a tremendous physique.”
Whilst Powell rose to prominence with Crewe as a midfield player, Wigan’s lack of striking talent has frequently seen him deployed up front. Cutting his teeth in an unfamiliar position in an uncompromising league, Powell has performed well. Without engaging in patronising cliché about lower league styles of play, it is notable that Powell has contested 70 headed duels in just 18 league appearances in what has been a learning curve for the youngster as a lone frontman in the Championship.
However he has produced a series of performances that have provoked talk of a loan move to the Premier League. His five league goals make him Wigan’s top league scorer, whilst he is the only Latics player with more than one European goal.
Powell’s eye for goal is well-known. Prior to his arrival at Old Trafford he caught the eye with a number of well taken finishes for Crewe, including in the Railwaymen’s Play-Off final win over Cheltenham Town. He has added to his show-reel of spectacular finishes this season. He showed great technique to pull off an overhead kick in a game against Bolton and also demonstrated his ability when running at defenders when scoring against Maribor in the Europa league.
In his last game, a 3-0 win over Bournemouth last weekend, Powell peppered Lee Camp’s goal with six shots, including two on target efforts from range.
He started that game cutting in from the left-hand side of a 4-2-3-1 formation and proved to be a constant menace to the Cherries’ defence. He completed four take ons – just under half the number completed by the entire Bournemouth team – and also made one tackle and an interception.
Whilst he only completed 73% of his attempted passes, he managed to provide four key passes. Whilst he is playing in a different league, and a slightly different position,Tom Cleverley has created just seven chances all season. Powell’s pass accuracy for the season stands at 67% for the league season so far. Clearly this is a fairly low score, but there are a number of mitigating factors.
Wigan’s team average is only 76%, whilst Powell has spent a large proportion of his time in the final third. When not making passes in the final third, he has often been found looking for the killer ball. He has made 28 successful long passes this season, amounting to 12% of his total. With United often looking to lack the will or ideas to make the killer ball, Powell could provide a different option in a midfield that currently all too frequently passes from side to side devoid of ideas.
Powell has created 25 chances this season, the second highest at Wigan, despite also being the side’s top scorer and most frequent shooter. His versatility has seen him lead the line, but he has also been active in the side’s build up play. As well as his creativity, his direct running has given Rosler’s side an added dimension. He has completed 28 take ons this season, joint highest at the club alongside the fleet-footed Callum McManaman.
For Moyes to start Powell would be a risk. Given that Powell would appear to be a year behind Wilfried Zaha in his development it would be a surprise to see him start to feature for United. However with a lethargic midfield currently on borrowed time, Moyes could do far worse than to start to ease Powell – and fellow youngster Jesse Lingard – into the United matchday squad and offer the odd cameo. Failing that, he could provide a cheap option for a struggling Premier League club to take a gamble on with a January loan deal.
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