Clinton Morrison believes Manchester United should have looked to sign former Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell as a backup to Luke Shaw.

United made it a priority to bolster Michael Carrick’s midfield options in the summer window summer after the departure of Casemiro and a long-term injury to Manuel Ugarte.

Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba were all signed from Premier League rivals, with Karl Darlow also joining as a backup goalkeeper.

Despite those arrivals, there was surprise in several quarters that the Red Devils did not look to strengthen at left-back, with Luke Shaw the only Premier League-proven option in Carrick’s squad.

Exclusive Premier League previews

Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free.

United were interested in a deal for Lewis Hall, but Newcastle United held firm and refused to entertain offers for the 21-year-old full-back.

On deadline day, United did pursue a surprise loan move for Rayan Ait-Nouri, but that was swiftly rejected by Manchester City, who were only keen on a permanent sale.

But former Premier League striker Morrison thinks the Red Devils should have considered a move for Chilwell, who ultimately signed for Crystal Palace on a free transfer from Strasbourg in the final hours of the window.

‘I still Man United have left themselves short after this window, and they ultimately failed to bring in a left-back,’ Morrison wrote in a column for FourFourTwo.

‘Crystal Palace brought in Ben Chilwell, and that would’ve been a great option. But he’s only a couple of years younger than Luke Shaw, and they probably wanted a young and hungry left-back.

‘The one they really wanted was Lewis Hall at Newcastle United and were desperate to get him, so that was a big disappointment for Man United.

‘I still feel they need to make improvements right along that backline with a new right-back, left-back, and probably a new centre-half too.

Man Utd incoming and outgoings

INCOMINGS

  • Andrey Santos (Chelsea) – £48m
  • Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa) – £35m
  • Carlos Baleba (Brighton) – £65m
  • Tynan Thompson (Tottenham) – £8m
  • Karl Darlow (Leeds United) – Free transfer
  • Cristian Orozco (Fortaleza CEIF) – £850,000

OUTGOINGS

  • Rasmus Hojlund (Napoli) – £38m
  • Radek Vitek (Middlesbrough) – £7.5m
  • Toby Collyer (West Brom) – £3m
  • Casemiro (Inter Miami) – Free transfer
  • Tyrell Malacia (unattached) – Free transfer
  • Jadon Sancho (unattached) – Free transfer
  • Tyler Fredricson (FC Lausanne-Sport) – Undisclosed
  • Andre Onana (Trabzonspor) – Loan
  • Altay Bayindir (Celta Vigo) – Loan

‘In previous windows, they’ve focused on attackers first and looked at their midfield in this window. I think their focus in the next window has to be in the defensive positions.

‘Those defensive weaknesses are probably why they won’t challenge to win the Premier League at this moment in time.’

Despite their failure to sign a full-back, Morrison does believe that United did pull off some of the best business of the window with their signing of Tielemans from Aston Villa for just £35million.

‘If I’m looking at who I think has been the best signing of the summer in the Premier League overall, I’d have to pick Bruno Guimaraes’ move to Arsenal for £75 million,’ Morrison said. ‘I think he’ll be a fantastic signing.

‘That’s closely followed by Youri Tielemans move to Manchester United for £35 million, which seems like the cost of a cup of tea in transfer terms these days!’

Asked earlier this week about his side’s transfer window, United boss Carrick said: ‘We went into the window wanting to come out stronger from the group that we had last season,” United head coach Carrick said. “We’ve definitely added to that.

‘I think we’ve done a lot of good work in that respect and the situation is what it is in terms of finances and what we can work with and what we’re trying to get the most of.

‘Certainly, the players that we’ve brought into the group I’m absolutely delighted with and I think we’ve done some really good business there.

‘You can always look at it and there’s other things you can do, or could have done, possibly could have done. Some things come available, some don’t. That’s just part of evolving the group and trying to push all the time.

‘We obviously had certain things that we needed to fill and try and improve the group, and I think largely we’re in a good place.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Comment now
Comments

Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google
Add as preferred source