Patrice Evra claims Man Utd star’s ‘time has gone’ as INEOS accelerate replacement signing
Patrice Evra reckons it’s almost game over for a Manchester United star who’s ‘lucky he’s English’, and INEOS have set the wheels in motion to replace the player.
The primary aim at Man Utd last summer, at least as far as the transfer window went, was overhauling the attack. INEOS succeeded, with Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha all arriving.
Attention shifted to the midfield this summer, and once again, Man Utd have got three readymade players in the door in the form of Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba.
With Senne Lammens locking down the goalkeeping position, it doesn’t take a genius to work out the defence will be the department of United’s squad under the microscope next year.
And according to former United left-back, Patrice Evra, the Red Devils should bite the bullet and dispense with current left-back, Luke Shaw, sooner rather than later.
In quotes carried by the Manchester Evening News, Evra rather ruthlessly said: “I have to tell the truth. Man United fans want to hear my opinion, and I think [Luke Shaw’s] time has gone.
“Don’t get me wrong, he might have a great game next game, but I don’t care. If Luke Shaw can give me a 35-game season, then that’s a good season.
“I don’t care if he has 10 good games and three bad ones, if he doesn’t play at least 35 games in a row, Man United fans will go crazy. He’s lucky because he’s English.
“I love Luke Shaw, but I love Man United even more, that’s why I’m saying they need another left-back.”
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Man Utd fast-track left-back signing
If Man Utd get their way, they’ll sign a new left-back before the current window closes, never mind next summer.
Newcastle’s Lewis Hall is the top target, though he’s unavailable at the present time. Having already sold Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon, the Magpies have put their foot down and said no more.
A move for Hall could be revisited in the summer of 2027, with Ben Jacobs recently confirming Man Utd already have the player’s ‘buy in.’
He stated: “The signs from the Hall camp are he sees a very strong fit at Manchester United.
“This is where Manchester United have got confidence, as they did with Carlos Baleba 12 months ago, that if they can’t move now, if they do choose to move in a year’s time, and even if Hall signs a new deal first, the player has that buy in.”
But of course, a 2027 move for Hall does nothing to address the need to sign a left-back to compete with and potentially play instead of Shaw right now.
Others under consideration for the here and now include Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen, with news breaking on Saturday of Man Utd making an approach for the Dutchman.
Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde is also admired and a loan deal would mesh well with overarching plans to sign Hall 12 months from now, though Balde doesn’t want to leave the Camp Nou, and Barcelona aren’t high on the idea of a simple loan anyway.
Jorge Salinas (Racing Santander) is on Man Utd’s shortlist, while Brighton’s Ferdi Kadioglu has been mentioned by not-so-reliable reports.
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