Rio Ferdinand reminded Manchester United of two transfer mistakes after their poor run of form continued with a 1-1 draw at Leeds United.
Ruben Amorim had Matheus Cunha to thank after his equaliser cancelled out Brenden Aaronson’s opener at Elland Road.
United have now won just one of their last seven games, slipping three points outside the Champions League places and 17 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.
£74m summer signing Benjamin Sesko played the entire match but went an 11th game without a goal, taking his overall tally for the Red Devils to just two in 17 appearances.
Ferdinand believes ‘something is there’ with Sesko but says Manchester United made a mistake not signing Victor Osimhen last summer.
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United were one of a number of clubs interested in Osimhen but pulled out of the race before he completed a £65m move to Galatasaray.
Osimhen scored 37 goals in 41 appearances for the Turkish club last season and has continued to impress this term with 12 in 16.
While Ferdinand believes it was a mistake not bringing Osimhen to Old Trafford, he also highlighted Danny Welbeck’s transfer exit as another blunder by his former club.
Manchester United sold Welbeck to Arsenal in 2019 and the 35-year-old is enjoying arguably the best period of his career at Brighton, scoring eight goals so far this season.
‘I’ve said before they should never have sold Danny Welbeck,’ Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel after United’s draw with Leeds.
Leeds vs Man Utd – Metro @ The Match
Metro breaks down the winners and losers from Manchester United’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Cunha steps up
Matheus Cunha has settled into life at Old Trafford well, but his equaliser against Leeds was just his fourth of the season. The Brazilian will need to continue in that vein, particularly with Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo all unavailable and Benjamin Sesko continuing to struggle.
Amorim makes a statement with Dorgu role
Amorim could have handed a rare start to Joshua Zirkzee in his front three, but instead chose to deploy Patrick Dorgu, nominally a left wing-back, as a right-sided No10. The Dane equipped himself well, but surely can’t be a long-term solution for United’s lack of quality in the final third.
Heaven shows his age
The young United defender was United’s Player of the Month for December and showed many of those qualities with his assured first-half display. But a costly error to allow Brenden Aaronson to open the scoring shows the 19-year-old is far from the finished product just yet.
Man Utd match ratings: Lammens 6, Yoro 5, Heaven 6, Martinez 6, Dalot 5, Casemiro 7, Ugarte 5, Shaw 6, Dorgu 6, Cunha 7, Sesko 4. Subs: Zirkzee 6.
Calvert-Lewin continues to impress
Fast looking like one of the shrewdest free transfers of the summer window, Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his impressive form against United.
The Englishman was touted as a potential target for the Red Devils over the summer, who might regret not taking a punt on his fitness. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet when his first-half header came back off the post.
Leeds match ratings: Perri 6, Bornauw 6, Bijol 7, Struijk 8, Justin 7, Aaronson 7, Gruev 6, Stach 7, Gudmundsson 7, Calvert-Lewin 7, Okafor 7. Subs: Nmecha 6, Tanaka N/A, Gnonto N/A, Piroe N/A.
‘I couldn’t believe we let him go. Now we’re seeing why I was adamant about that because he’s doing his thing at Brighton. He’s scoring goals and is a player you can depend on.
‘But that ship has sailed, it’s gone now, he’s too old but we shouldn’t have let him go in the first place.
‘We need to go and recruit or we need players back as soon as possible, it’s one of the two.
‘I still say we should have signed Victor Osimhen, I don’t want to keep going there but we should have signed him because there’s no questions asked there. It’s just pure experience with him.
‘We don’t play the ball into Sesko enough, that’s a big thing. He’s a work in progress and I think he needs to get the ball more.
‘He was a bit loose with it today but I still think we’re not crossing the ball enough. He should be asking for the ball more and demanding it.
‘There’s something there with Sesko but he needs more time because he’s young and it’s not easy being a number nine for Man United.’
Amorim will be desperate for Manchester United to get back to winning ways on Wednesday night when they travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley.
A cup game against Brighton and huge Premier League clashes with Manchester City and Arsenal follow for the Red Devils.
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