Manchester United are ready to “rival” Arsenal and Liverpool in the hunt for Yankuba Minteh, according to reports.
Minteh, 20, has enjoyed a breakout season for Brighton & Hove Albion after a £30 million move from Newcastle United last summer. Executives at St James’ Park did not want to sell the Gambian winger as they believed in his potential to develop into one of the best forwards in the Premier League.
But the acute pressure of PSR forced Newcastle to sell the talented youngsters with Brighton – a club famed for their astute recruitment – happy to profit. Eddie Howe later confirmed the Magpies “did not want to sell” the winger.
Minteh has demonstrated why Newcastle rued his sale after scoring seven goals with five assists in 37 appearances for the Seagulls this year. His work-rate has also been excellent with good defensive instincts – ranking in the 96th percentile for tackles and 97th for clearances amongst wingers in Europe – and the versatility to play on either wing.
In January, Minteh ran riot at Old Trafford as he scored one and and assisted another to help Brighton beat Ruben Amorim’s side 3-1 in a comprehensive victory.
These type of performances have put a number of England’s top clubs on red-alert this summer with a report relayed by Caught Offside revealing Minteh is “on the list of Man Utd as they look to strengthen their attack this summer.”
But the Red Devils are joined by Liverpool and Arsenal in the hunt for the 20-year-old winger with both rivals able to offer Champions League football next season.
However, the queue on the right-wing – Minteh’s favoured position – is far more difficult to jump at Anfield or the Emirates with the league’s two standout performers in Mohammed Salah and Bukayo Saka standing in the Gambian international’s way should he make those switches.
At Old Trafford, it would be a slightly different proposition.
Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system does not utilise a traditional ‘right-winger’. But the Portuguese coach has consistently demonstrated a preference for attacking wingers in the wing-back role, on at least one side.
At Sporting, Amorim fast-tracked Geovany Quenda’s ascension into the first-team – a left-footed right-winger who had typically played much further forward in the Lisbon team’s academy. But Amorim saw his potential as a right wing-back and he flourished in the role.
Minteh shares similarities with Quenda in terms of his profile and it could be this right wing-back position Amorim is envisioning for the Brighton starlet. The fact that Minteh would also be able to play in the front three, as well as on the left-hand side of the pitch, would only strengthen this interest.
Therefore, while a move to Arsenal or Liverpool would offer Minteh the prospect of competing in Europe’s elite competition as well as most likely challenging for the Premier League title, he would be doing so from the bench.
For United, he would walk into the side due to the paucity of viable options at right wing-back with neither Diogo Dalot nor Noussair Mazraoui offering the attacking threat Amorim requires for his system to function.
Featured image Stu Forster via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
