Much has been made on Manchester United’s shortcomings in the midfield and with good reason.
United had a generally positive summer transfer window, revamping their attack and bringing in a new goalkeeper in the form of Senne Lammens.
The club have been criticised for failing to bring in midfielder reinforcements despite significant interest in Brighton and Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba.
Wing back hole
Nonetheless, one area that the club is certainly weak on in depth is wing back. Since Ruben Amorim became manager and changed the formation of the team to a 3-4-3, wing backs have taken on a new importance for the squad.
At present, it seems Patrick Dorgu is the starting left wing back with Amad being the first choice option on the right. New signing Diego Leon could back up Dorgu and Diogo Dalot can do a job on both sides.
Nonetheless, the issue is that Dalot is not really a wing back and lacks the attacking presence of Amad or the energy of Dorgu to get up and down the pitch effectively.
Therefore, United should try and address this in future windows and one sensible option is Atletico Madrid’s Nahuel Molina.
Attacking skills
The Argentinian is an asset in attack and is very comfortable in the final third.
He “combines effectively with teammates in all phases on the right wing, demonstrating this well in the build-up phase and when looking to enter the final third to create.”
Scouts have also claimed that Molina’s dribbling is also incredibly effective and that he has the “required technical fundamentals regarding body shape and positioning when executing dribbling and passing actions. This also opens passing angles and is productively paired with his fantastic ball-striking.”
His statistics from last season’s Champions League also back this up. He was in the top 90 percentile for full back non-penalty goals. What’s more, he also scored highly in expected goals and shots on target statistics.
He has also impressed in La Liga and in the 2023-2024 season he was “establishing himself as the best right-back in La Liga” according to underlying statistics.
Molina is also effective on both his left and right foot, meaning he could cover both wing back positions if necessary.
Experience in a 3-4-3
United’s chosen formation under Amorim is not the most common, so any new recruit should have had experience playing in it.
Molina has played numerous years in a 3-4-3 formation with Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid. In spite of his attacking prowess, no player can survive in a Simeone team unless they can defend, which could make the Argentine a valuable all-round addition to the squad.
Experience
At 27-years-old, Molina is at the older range of signings for Ineos, who have prioritised young signings.
Nonetheless, United’s squad dynamic has already been revamped and they actually do not have any older fullbacks in the squad unless Luke Shaw is counted in this category.
He has played 136 matches for Atletico Madrid and was part of Argentina’s World Cup winning squad in 2022.
Molina has represented his nation 52 times and even scored in the World Cup quarter final victory over the Netherlands, showing he has a head for the big games.
Value
The Argentinian would also make a strong squad option as he currently only earns €23,000 a week in Spain. Even with an expected wage increase, he would be unlikely to make more than €50,000 a week at United.
His transfer value would also likely be inexpensive as he is currently valued at €20 million by Transfermarkt.com.
In addition, his current deal runs out in the summer of 2027, so if United made a move next summer, they could perhaps get an even better deal for a player entering the last year of his contract.
Injury record
Finally, United should also make a move for Molina due to his reliability.
The Red Devils have struggled for years with injury-prone defenders but Molina rarely misses matches.
In fact, he has played 43, 46 and 46 matches for Atletico in the last three seasons.
He has only missed 20 games in the last seven seasons, making him an attractive option to bolster United’s squad.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
