Predicting Manchester United’s strongest XI after the winter transfer window

#10 Center Forward – Anthony Martial

Few players have divided opinion like Anthony Martial at Manchester United. The Frenchman can be brilliant one moment and indifferent in the next, and that is where most of United’s problems lie. Like the rest of the team, Martial has struggled to add consistency to his game, even though his talent is there for everyone to see.

Even though Odion Ighalo will provide Solskjaer will a different presence in the box, it is clear that for now, Martial is the ideal choice to lead the line for United. This term, the Frenchman has registered his best goalscoring return for the club since his debut season and his understanding with Rashford has been hugely fruitful for the Red Devils. And for United to finish the season on a high, Martial needs to be in top form from now until May.

#11 Left Forward – Marcus Rashford

At the start of the season, Solskjaer had shown tremendous trust in his young strike force by letting Romelu Lukaku leave without signing a replacement. While the decision not to sign a striker has backfired, his trust has been vindicated by Marcus Rashford. The Englishman was in blistering form before picking up a back injury in January and turned out to be United’s most important player in the absence of Pogba. He has scored 19 goals from 31 games so far this season, which is the best return of his professional career.

Even though Rashford is not expected to return until April, Manchester United’s strongest starting eleven remains incomplete without his presence. The youngster has matured very well this season and has combined his natural game with a new-found goalscoring instinct. When fit and firing, there are few players better than him in his position.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Vishal Subramanian