Erik ten Hag has reportedly been on the hunt for a new right-back for several months.
More recently, Manchester United have been linked with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong and have already met with the player’s representatives ahead of a potential summer move.
However, is one really needed? Both Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have been exceptional this season, and it’s the latter that Ten Hag was keen to offload in the summer, though a deal failed to materialise.
After making just one four-minute Premier League cameo before the World Cup, an injury to Dalot meant Wan-Bissaka became the first choice after the tournament ended.
He came into the setup and did not put a foot wrong. As well as that, it was clear the Englishman had been working to develop his attacking abilities and had improved significantly.
This weekend, Wan-Bissaka put on an outstanding display in the FA Cup semi-finals, in which he kept prolific winger Kaoru Mitoma quiet throughout the tie.
Wan-Bissaka’s 1v1 tackling
Judging from a statistic shared by WhoScored, the 25-year-old is seemingly one of the most difficult defenders an attacker can face in the top flight, making it no surprise Leicester City’s James Maddison labelled him “the best in the world bar none” for one-on-one tackling.
🛡️ Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been dribbled past only once in the Premier League this season; the fewest number of times of those players to register 900+ minutes in the Premier League this season pic.twitter.com/bsg4PFzL2S
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) April 25, 2023
This is what I have been saying since he started at Old Trafford. He is the best right back in the premier league, just needed to work on attacking. Why he isn’t playing for England totally bewilders me. Southgate keeps opting for the useless Alexander-Arnold.