Manchester United and Ruben Amorim have repeatedly stressed the mistakes they need to avoid in the transfer market while buying but selling remains just as big an issue.
Selling is not just about getting the right price for the players Man Utd want to let go, but also deciding which player it is they are letting go.
The case of “what if” can haunt heavily and that is exactly what’s happening with one of their former players right now.
He has just given another reminder to Man Utd that he would have been Ruben Amorim’s ideal player had the club been more patient with him at the time.
Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images
Ruben Amorim’s ideal player
If there’s one word to describe what Ruben Amorim’s ideal player would be, it’s “Physical”.
From brushing aside Antony’s form in Spain down to a lack of physicality or praising Patrick Dorgu for his physicality, that has become the buzzword under the Man Utd manager.
He needs players who can run their socks off and then do it all over again in the next game with the same intensity, a necessity, in his opinion, in modern football.
That is why it would be hurting the decision-makers at Old Trafford to see Anthony Elanga play out of his skin in their recent game against Ipswich.
More United News
Elanga scored his first brace at club level to keep Nottingham Forest within touching distance of Arsenal for second in the league, a surprise charge up the table led by the Swede.
Elanga was one of the players who Ralf Rangnick trusted unconditionally due to his physicality and ability to take on instructions, executing them to a tee.
Erik ten Hag preferred technicality over physicality and thus, Elanga was sold for just £15 million. Just like Scott McTominay, he would’ve been Amorim’s ideal player.
Anthony Elanga unlocks new level
Elanga was never faulted for his running and effort at United either but the end product remained missing.
That, combined with his style of play not suiting Ten Hag, led to him being sold earlier than he perhaps should have been.
Now, he’s added end product to his physical frame and that created a monster of a football player, with 13 goal involvements in 29 league appearances just the tip of the iceberg.
It is impossible to look at him as a Man Utd fan and not wonder how ideal he would have been as one of the flying wing-backs or even as the No. 10, with his hard running and pressing.
Elanga has become yet another victim to United’s disjointed way of thinking that is hopefully getting ironed out under new management.
They can’t keep selling rough gems like Elanga and buying overpriced players like Antony.