by There are only eight days until the start of the new Premier League season.
Manchester United will play in the Community Shield this weekend and will have the privilege of opening the league campaign when they welcome Fulham to Old Trafford on August 16. Are United ready for the new season? The jury is out.
Joshua Zirkzee is still out of the pre-season friendly and Erik ten Hag suggested he could be eased up, while Leny Yoro broke his metatarsal against Arsenal in Los Angeles and has been ruled out for three months. Rasmus Hojlund will be out for the first few weeks of the campaign due to a hamstring injury but, on the bright side, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw are back to full fitness.
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Martinez started the FA Cup final but hasn’t started alongside Shaw since February 4, so it will be a huge boost to see the pair rekindle their partnership on the left side of defence.
It will be very interesting to see how United fare this season. As things stand, they have only made two new signings and the squad is arguably weaker than it has been – Raphael Varane has left and his replacement is injured – but Shaw is fit again and Marcus could Rashford to do his best again. The summer window closes in 23 days and more arrivals and departures are guaranteed, but supporters’ concerns are understandable as the transfer deadline looms.
Those concerns are not exclusive to fans. Paul Scholes shares them, as he explained this week on The Overlap. “Manchester United are talking about bringing in players who can’t be in their (current) team,” Scholes said of the club’s interest in Matthijs de Ligt.
“From Bayern Munich, he hasn’t played for them. That has to be a big concern for me, especially when Eric Dier is playing in front of him. I’m not kidding, that’s a huge concern for me. Giving players in for £40-£50 million just because he played for them three or four years ago Juventus got rid of him, he wasn’t good enough for Juventus Obviously he wasn’t good enough at Bayern Munich, so he’s come to us as a second class defender now.”
United have agreed personal terms with De Ligt and he is likely to join if and when the sale of Victor Lindelof can be agreed. The Swedish international is in the final year of his contract and this summer is the last chance to secure a reasonable fee for the centre-back.
Scholes’ assessment of De Ligt is fair but he’s certainly an upgrade on Lindelof given his pedigree, meaning United can’t really be beat for looking to sign him. However, De Ligt ticks a number of boxes that raise red flags: he is Dutch and has previous experience working with Ten Hag in the Eredivisie.
If United were Premier League champions, De Ligt might not be considered good enough, but they finished eighth in the league last term and need to be realistic about their targets. United may have signed a top-class striker to replace Zirkzee in fantasy, but the budget is limited and the transfer market is difficult to maneuver.
But Scholes was right to question Zirkzee’s impact on England as he scored 12 goals in all competitions for Bologna last season.
“I think Hojlund is really good, but he’s been brought into this country at such a young age and he has to be the No. 9 for Man United, an iconic role. You’re coming after players who score great goals. and win league titles,” Scholes said of the attackers.
“For me, he should be a second or third striker at a big club. They’ve brought in Zirkzee now and I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t seen him play. Marcus can play through the middle but he’s a long way better on the left and I think goals will be a problem this season [his record] and he is not a top scorer wherever he was, in Italy or in Bayern Munich’s second team. And it will be more difficult in the Premier League.”
Zirkzee, who also played in Italy before moving to Manchester, has a similar profile to Hojlund, and his haul of 12 as a reserve striker is a strong result. The problem is that it may not be enough for United. Hojlund will be aiming to reach the 20-goal mark, but the wings need to add more, which means Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Amad, Antony and Jadon Sancho need to step up their finishing.
United scored 57 league goals last season while Brentford, who finished two places above the relegation zone, scored 56, underlining the scope for improvement. Scholes has legitimate concerns but I hope they don’t come true this season.
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