MANCHESTER UNITED have made signing a new left-back their top summer priority, according to reports.
Erik ten Hag has been forced to field a makeshift defence for most of the season due to a string of devastating injuries.
ReutersMan Utd are set to be forced into a transfer they did not plan on making[/caption]
RexLuke Shaw’s unreliable fitness has proven detrimental to the Red Devils’ season[/caption]
GettyAnother left-back, Tyrell Malacia, has been absent all season[/caption]
The team’s injury issues at left-back have been especially profound.
Luke Shaw has been unavailable for a significant portion of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Tyrell Malacia is not set to feature until for the club again until next season, having missed the entirety of the season through mysterious circumstances.
The Dutch ace, 24, last featured for the first team nearly a year ago before undergoing surgery for a knee meniscus injury and then saw his return pushed back by a second, corrective surgery.
In the first half of the season, Sergio Reguilon was on loan from Tottenham and, under assurances from the medical department that Malacia would be back in the winter, the loan was cancelled.
However, this has not materialised, and with the unreliable fitness of 28-year-old Shaw, it has left Man Utd without key players.
Along with the injury of Lisandro Martinez, Man Utd are without a left-footed player, which would significantly help the team in build up.
And according to the Manchester Evening News, the crippling issue has seen club bosses, who are now working under Ineos following their acquisition of a minority share in the club, target a left-back.
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Other areas, such as a new centre-back, defensive midfielder and striker, have been major concerns since last season.
If Shaw and Malacia were fit enough to ensure the position was adequately covered then Man Utd would be able to focus their attention on other areas.
But in reality, the club now have at least four positions to worry about, before sales are even considered.
Man Utd have been in poor form recently, with just one win from their last seven Premier League games.
It has seen boss Ten Hag come under mounting pressure.
However, recent reports suggest the Dutchman may have a stay of execution due to a lack of alternative options.
Though SunSport exclusively revealed that Man Utd players expect Ten Hag to be sacked in the summer.
Man Utd are LUCKY to be seventh in the table… one particular stat is terrible, say Dave Kidd
By Dave Kidd
THE frightening thing about Manchester United’s season is that they should really be LOWER than seventh in the Premier League.
Even during their current run of one win in seven league matches, United’s results have been better than their performances.
Erik ten Hag’s team deserved to lose each of their last three drawn games against Brentford, Liverpool and Bournemouth.
On goal difference, United are ninth in the league, while only seven teams have scored fewer than their 47 goals.
And if we give any credence to ‘expected points’, then that stat would have them 15th in the table.
If Ten Hag’s men lose Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final to Championship side Coventry, it should not come as a major surprise.
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