Suwaid Fazal
Why Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong can replace Alexis Sanchez at Man United
Alexis Sanchez’s loan move to Inter Milan is done with a report from The Sun stating that he will be reuniting with Romelu Lukaku.
Sanchez joined United in January transfer window in 2018 with a lot of anticipation as United were sitting second behind Manchester City and still in the Champions League.
He was Arsenal’s best player in the previous season and with a few months left on his contract, a swap deal was concluded which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way.
Sanchez never got going at United, struggling to adapt to his new surroundings where he was no longer the main man. He had a few performances like the away game against City at the Etihad, where he showed signs that he was still the player from Arsenal but they did not come about enough for United.
Last season, he only scored 2 goals in all competitions after many struggles with injury and despite the odd glimpse that he may be getting back to his best, it never really materialized and it’s best that they go their own ways.
United look thin in that department but one can only assume that Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes from the United academy are going to get a lot more minutes for their development in the cup competitions and in the Europa League because of Sanchez’s departure.
Chong is a 19-year-old winger with great pace and energy. He can play on both wings but is most effective when he plays on the left to give natural width.
Old-fashioned wingers who go to the byline and whip crosses are a rare breed today and Chong’s creativity from that side will be a real plus to this United side.
He’s also an absolute menace for defenders cause he never stops harrying the man on the ball, which is perfect for the pressing system that Solskjaer is trying to implement. He’s also very good at winning fouls and open his body up from that side to take shots.
The other youngster is 18-year-old Angel Gomes, who has the highest ceiling of all the United academy graduates,.
Gomes is an extremely technical footballer, who has a fantastic touch, change of direction, passing range, vision, eye for goal and dribbling ability.
Much like Scholes, he uses his lack of height to his advantage by playing quick passes and not losing possession of the ball in tight spaces.
Gomes has usually played as an advanced midfielder for the academy but is also very capable of cutting in from the left-wing to add another midfielder in the build-up and doesn’t lack the pace of a Juan Mata.
Both players caused havoc to defences in United’s pre-season tour and will be fighting for game time this season with the Europa League almost coming at the perfect time for the youngsters.
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United haven’t had such a talented bunch of youngsters coming from the academy in a long time and they’re likely going to be eased into the squad by the second half of the season based on their performances in cup competitions and appearances off the bench.
It’s a risky move but Solksjaer is convinced that no matter what happens, he’s going to run the football team in his vision.
