The £68m dream signing who could finally reignite Man United's fearsome attacking reputation

Did anyone really think that Manchester United’s rebuild was complete? Despite spending around £180m on new signings this summer, the first few weeks of the season have revealed that Erik ten Hag’s side remains a work in progress, so it’s no surprise to come across reports suggesting that the Red Devils are already planning to sign at least four players next summer.

The Mirror and the Manchester Evening News both claim that United are putting together another expensive shopping list for the end of the season, with a central midfielder, a left-back and a centre-half (probably Jarrad Branthwaite) among the top priorities. But there’s one specific player whose file appears to be at the top of the scouting reports – Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze.

The England international would be available for £68m thanks to a release clause, the MEN tell us, but is he the missing piece of the attacking puzzle at Old Trafford? And how would he fit into Ten Hag’s system?

The latter question isn’t straightforward to answer. Although this season has seen United move subtly from a rigid version of a 4-2-3-1 to a more fluid formation which shifts between 4-2-4 and 4-3-3, some things haven’t changed – there are still two wide wingers and only one ‘number ten’, a role in which United are already well-supplied thanks to Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount.

So where would Eze fit in? Although perfectly capable of playing down the left side, he’s at his best plying the channels in narrower areas, moving between midfield and attack and left and central areas depending on the flow of the game. As it stands, United’s system doesn’t have a natural space for a player like that – so either the team would have to adapt, or Eze would.

Given the presence of both Mount and summer signing Joshua Zirkzee, who played a supporting role in the pockets around the penalty area rather than as a traditional number nine for Bologna, a variant on the system used by teams like Bologna and the wildly successful Bayer Leverkusen last season could make a lot of sense – in other words, having two supporting ‘tens’ behind a central striker with most of the width provided by rampaging wing-backs. That, of course, would require United to sign some rampaging wing-backs.

And Ten Hag has proved relatively dogmatic with his preferred system so far, tweaking and adjusting according to the opposition without tearing up his blueprint. And it’s hard not to wonder if signing a player like Eze if he would either be played somewhat out of position on the left or would be stuck competing with Fernandes and Mount would make sense. £68m is surely too much to spend on a rotational player or an imperfect fit, even in this free-spending era of the game.

But if he did play in the system currently in use, would he be an upgrade on the options United currently have, even if he was perhaps crowbarred in a little awkwardly? Looking at the statistics, he compares pretty favourably to Fernandes, the current first choice in the more central role, but it depends on precisely what you’re looking for.

Put simply, they both score a pretty similar amount, but Fernandes is unquestionably the better passer of the two – he creates more chances for his team-mates (around one more shooting opportunity per game) and plays more dangerous forward passes into good areas. But Eze is the better ball carrier, and beats an opponent on the run more than four times as often as Fernandes does. The end product is similar, but the means by which they do it is different.

Ten Hag’s current system features a lot of counter-attacks and direct passes with the midfield sometimes marooned in deep areas during attacks – that means more forwards getting isolated, and in those situations, having Eze’s ability to force his way into space at speed could be a game-changer. But during slower, more patient build-up, when the opposing defence can get back and get organised, Fernandes’ accurate passing and greater vision is likely more important. The game situation and opposition would likely dictate who would make a better number ten at Old Trafford.

It could be a different story on the left flank, however, if that’s where they envision Eze playing. Looking at Marcus Rashford’s raw numbers from the past year of football is sobering, and shows just how far his form has fallen since scoring 30 goals in the 2022/23 season – and there’s little doubt that on current form, Eze would achieve more.

Eze is currently hitting the back of the net three times as often on a minute-by-minute basis, and producing 50% more shooting chances for others than Rashford is. He’s beating more defenders more often and passing more with better accuracy. The only thing Rashford has been better at for the past year or so is generating yardage down the wing, which is likely a product of position and system as much as it is a testament to Rashford’s speed and movement.

So if Rashford can’t get back to his best, Eze becomes an upgrade on the left flank – but if the system remains the same, it surely makes at least as much sense to spend that money on a natural winger rather than crowbarring a player into a very slightly unnatural role. Eze certainly can play on the left, but his instinct is to come inside and look for the ball closer to the centre. That makes much more sense when he’s supported by a wing-back overlapping on the left. Even if the fitness concerns are allayed, that isn’t the way Luke Shaw or Diogo Dalot naturally play.

Manchester United have made something of a habit of buying players who don’t seem like natural fits for their system. Mount was signed and played as a deeper central midfielder. Zirkzee has arrived and seems to be intended as a number nine despite not playing there in the past. Eze, as a left winger, would be a similar move, and it hasn’t really worked out yet.

United either need to find a system which suits their current and prospective players better, or to start making signings which line up the tactical vision – and it’s not immediately apparent that signing Eze would represent the latter. But that doesn’t change the fact that he is a very fine player, a brilliant dribbler and a genuine threat in the final third, an area that the team certainly needs a spark in. Perhaps £68m to force a square peg into a slightly rounded hole wouldn’t be the worst mistake.