When Manchester United signed Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the summer of 2019 they liked to boast that they had whittled down a database of 804 right-backs before making Crystal Palace’s player of the year their first choice.
It told us United’s computers had sizable memory, but little else about recruitment, given Wan-Bissaka was the player they were linked with throughout that transfer window and always looked the most obvious solution.
Nearly three years on, with Wan-Bissaka having lost his place in the United team to another unconvincing right-back, it would be interesting to know who the other 803 right-backs on that list were, although it feels like most of them have been selected by England since. Eight hundred and fourth is roughly where Wan-Bissaka features on Gareth Southgate’s list of potential right-backs.
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The summer of 2019 was the height of the “cultural reset” that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ed Woodward had decided United needed and apparently Wan-Bissaka fit the bill nicely.
"He has the right work ethic, talent and mentality to play for Manchester United and he fits exactly the type of player that we are looking to bring into the squad to help us improve and push on further,” said Solskjaer.
In September 2019 Wan-Bissaka had settled well and was called into the England squad for the first time. Now it looks increasingly like his withdrawal with a back injury will be the final first and final act of his Three Lions career.
Last summer Gareth Southgate selected four right-backs in his provisional European Championship squad - Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier - and nobody was surprised that Wan-Bissaka wasn’t even mentioned in the debate.
A year ago Southgate mentioned two other English right-backs who had impressed him. Matty Cash of Aston Villa and Leeds United’s Luke Ayling were the players on the radar, while he also reserved words of praise for Max Aarons, who was with the Under-21s.
The embarrassment of riches from the summer turned into a drought at right-back this weekend. With Walker having been told he had the international friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast off, James and Alexander-Arnold joined Trippier on the sidelines.
But there was never any expectation Southgate would turn to a £50million right-back playing for Manchester United. Instead, he called up Tyrick Mitchell, who initially replaced Wan-Bissaka for Crystal Palace and has spent much of this season playing at left-back, and Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters.
That’s nine English right-backs either called up or mentioned by Southgate ahead of Wan-Bissaka and while the England manager’s judgement is hardly final, there’s been no queue of experts telling him he’s wrong.
Wan-Bissaka is 124 appearances into his United career now, but since the appointment of Ralf Rangnick he’s started just six of 20 games.
His attacking game has hardly evolved from three seasons ago and it’s getting difficult to escape the conclusion that he just doesn’t offer United enough in the final third from a position that has become vital in the modern games, especially for elite teams.
It’s the greater attacking intent that has seen Diogo Dalot preferred by Rangnick, but the Portuguese full-back was close to leaving the club in the summer and has work to do if he’s to be seen as the long-term option.
United committed £50m to the signing of Wan-Bissaka but it already feels like he has little future at the club. It’s hard to see him thriving in a more attacking, progressive team under the likes of Erik ten Hag or Mauricio Pochettino this summer.
When Wan-Bissaka is compared to the right-backs at those clubs United expect to be challenging with, then he falls well short of Walker, Alexander-Arnold and James. He can be excellent defensively, especially in one-on-one situations, but he isn’t always switched off guarding the back post when teams attack down the left and his attacking output is nowhere near that trio.
Even England are prioritising a contribution going forward now and for that reason Wan-Bissaka is nowhere near international selection. That feels pretty telling for his future at Old Trafford.
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