Manchester United’s dream of achieving Champions League football this season is becoming extremely unlikely.
Erik ten Hag’s team currently sits sixth in the Premier League, a huge 11 points behind Aston Villa in fourth, who are showing no signs of slowing down.
This season has been particularly disappointing given the progress made last year, with the future of some players and even the boss under question.
Nonetheless, let’s take a look at how some of Ten Hag’s signings have performed, with a focus on one individual who’s proved to be excellent value for money among the transfer market chaos.
Ten Hag’s signings so far
The Dutch boss has been handed plenty of money to rebuild Man United since arriving last summer, with the incoming players being rather hit or miss.
Mason Mount and Antony are two recent additions who have been unable to impress despite costing over £140m between them, with the Englishman suffering from injuries all season and the Brazilian failing to register a goal contribution in the Premier League after 21 appearances.
However, there have also been some quality signings that will be the future of the Red Devils. Rasmus Hojlund and Lisandro Martinez have become irreplaceable in the side, even becoming huge fan favourites for their attitude just as much as their talent.
In fact, they are so important to the team that United have won all but one game where they’ve both started in the Premier League. With their combined costs, the duo did set Ten Hag back by over £100m, but there’s one player who’s potentially proved to be a better deal than them both.
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What Man United paid for Jonny Evans
There’s no two ways about it: the signing of Jonny Evans in the summer was extremely questionable, with plenty of the United faithful writing him off before he’d stepped foot on the field.
The 36-year-old centre-half – who was part of the club’s last title-winning squad in 2012/13 – rejoined United on a free transfer from relegated Leicester City, but he really has been Ten Hag’s saviour at times this season, stepping up during the Red Devils defensive injury crisis.
The Northern Ireland rock has played 17 Premier League games this season, with only Raphael Varane featuring more times in the league than Evans this campaign for United centre-backs.
Not only has the number 35 been a reliable option at the heart of the defence, but he’s also thrived when playing, showing leadership and professionalism, which some of his teammates could take note of. His performance against Manchester City on Sunday confirmed that he’s more than good enough to perform at this level, even against the best of teams.
|
Evans vs Man City |
|
|---|---|
|
Stats |
Evans |
|
Minutes |
69 |
|
Clearances |
4 |
|
Blocked shots |
2 |
|
Interceptions |
2 |
|
Tackles |
3 |
|
Duels won |
4/4 |
As you can see, Evans is still an excellent defender who’s willing to put his body on the line for the team. He’s also in excellent shape and looks extremely sharp, with Haaland being kept relatively quiet before the Belfast native’s enforced substitution due to injury.
Evans was proactive throughout, and he wasn’t afraid to step up and win the ball when the opportunity arose, as shown by his three tackles and 100% ground duels won rate.
However, the Premier League winner is also capable of playing against opponents where United dominate the ball, as shown by his performance in the 1-0 win over Burnley earlier this season, when he picked up an assist and had a pass accuracy of 91%.
In truth, without Evans this season, United could be in a much worse position in the table. It was an excellent move by the boss, especially considering his arrival cost the club nothing and he’s featured so heavily this season already.
While many of Ten Hag’s additions over the last 18 months or so certainly warrant criticism, it’s hard to have anything other than positive words to say about the veteran titan.