Manchester United have started the new season poorly with their displays in both Premier League games so far raising multiple question marks.
Manager Erik ten Hag has to deal with issues related to the midfield, which has looked imbalanced, leaving far too much space for the opposition to counter which Casemiro has struggled to thwart on his own.
Then there is the question of profligacy from his attacking stars. The team has created numerous chances but none of the forwards look capable of putting the ball in the back of the net.
While the manager must have been thinking of rectifying these issues through the transfer market, mounting injury problems are threatening to derail those plans.
Shaw’s injury worse than initial thought, causing panic
Initially, injuries were suffered by Kobbie Mainoo and later by Mason Mount which prompted talks of not only adding a defensive midfielder but also a roaming playmaker in the mould of Ryan Gravenberch of Bayern Munich.
But last night, United suffered a major blow with left-back Luke Shaw suffering from a muscular injury which would keep him out of the team for a few weeks.
Now The Manchester Evening News has confirmed that the prognosis is worse than initially feared and the full-back could be out for two months.
“Manchester United fear Luke Shaw could be out for up to two months with a muscular injury. Although United say Shaw is out for ‘a number of weeks’ it is understood his injury is worse than first thought.
“United are in the market for a left-back due to the potentially lengthy timeframe of Shaw’s absence and United are now without a senior out-and-out left-back.”
Due to a limited budget and obvious deficiencies up front and in midfield to fix, it remains to be seen whether United can splurge to fix this latest issue.
The problems have been exacerbated due to the fact that the Red Devils are currently without an out-and-out senior left back with Tyrell Malacia still sidelined since pre-season.
United also confirmed the departure of Brandon Williams on loan to Championship side Ipswich Town, which leaves Alvaro Fernandez and Diogo Dalot as the only options available at the Dutchman’s disposal.
The Portuguese did play there last season and also has experience of playing there during his loan stint at AC Milan.
Ten Hag’s potential solutions
The other option is Fernandez, who shone out on loan at Preston North End last season but is still considered raw for Premier League football.
There were reports that the Reds were mulling over his sale but The Peoples Person wrote about a straight loan to Granada CF that the club was working on.
Now those plans might need to be recalibrated. Dalot will still require backup and the young Spaniard might just see himself thrust into the deep end.
The manager can also utilise Lisandro Martinez there should he choose while Jonny Evans could be a wildcard option or the manager might tweak his system to do away with full-backs and use wing backs.
Plenty to ponder for Ten Hag at the moment.