Why Manchester United now want a left back and not a left winger amid Lewis Hall interest

LEFT BACK has been a blind spot for Manchester United in recent years, which makes their interest in Lewis Hall so eye-opening.

Between 2022-24, United bought Tyrell Malacia, gave Luke Shaw a new contract, brought in Sergio Reguilon on loan and played Sofyan Amrabat – a midfielder – at left back.

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Malacia, Reguilon and Amrabat were all let go. Reguilon’s season-long loan was terminated at the halfway point.

Alvaro Carreras did not get a kick during those two years and was sold to Benfica. Last year, he made a €50million transfer to Real Madrid.

Madrid failed to win a trophy in Carreras’ first season and none of their Spanish players made Luis de la Fuente’s 26-man World Cup squad. Marc Cucurella has already come in to oust Carreras.

Carreras might not have been cut out for it at United or he might have been a revelation. The point is he was not given a fair crack of the whip.

Harry Amass, another teenager recruited at academy level, has at least played for the United first team. The club still want to cash in.

Amass’s resale value is not that lucrative. He has not made a competitive appearance in six months due to a hamstring injury and his last start on loan in the Championship was for Sheffield Wednesday on January 4.

The 19-year-old was deemed worthy of inclusion in United’s 2024 pre-season tour and was the standout performer. Amass was not on the plane to the United States last year as the plan was for him to go on loan.

He had minutes against Wrexham in Helsinki and Rosenborg in Trondheim, scoring in the latter, this month. Unlike most of the academy talents, Amass did not travel on work experience.

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At least United are making a definitive decision. An academy product develops encouragingly over three years and is either kept or sold.

But going into the season with Shaw and Amass would have been logical. Amass has been taking pointers from Shaw and would have been a natural understudy, potentially as part of a succession plan.

Of all the planned sales United lined up, Amass should not be one of them, never mind the first out of the door.

He is a victim of mismanagement by the present and past United regimes. Ineos thought Joshua Zirkzee was a worthy recruit at £36.5million. Former chief executive Richard Arnold was happy to line Marcus Rashford’s pockets with a £325,000 weekly wage on the strength of one stellar season.

Ideally, United would cut their losses on another 19-year-old left back, Diego Leon. He was introduced to the Old Trafford crowd last year as one of four first team signings. The Paraguayan has trained with the under 21s since Michael Carrick came in.

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Manuel Ugarte is injured. Altay Bayindir has just returned from an extended vacation despite not appearing at the World Cup.

If Rashford was not borderline unsellable then United might have opted for a left winger over a left back. They did not cover themselves in glory by disclosing interest in Crysencio Summerville, who has joined the might of Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.

The £8m deal for 18-year-old left winger Tynan Thompson last week effectively indicated that United had settled on a left back. If Rashford does go, United have Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu, who have played all of their football on the left under Carrick.

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Thompson won’t go straight into the first team squad but he has been promised that he will get chances at senior level. So that’s three left wingers, excluding Rashford.

With hindsight, United would have moved for Hall when he was deemed surplus at Chelsea. That was never on the cards in 2023 after the investments in Malacia and Shaw, who both soon succumbed to injury. United scrambled for a left back at the 11th hour and turned to Reguilon.

Hall turns 22 in September, is Premier League-proven, homegrown and United require a long-term replacement for Shaw, who has entered the final 12 months of his contract.

Targeting Hall is ambitious but potentially unrealistic. Newcastle have sold Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali while Bruno Guimaraes is seemingly Arsenal-bound.

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The last time Newcastle sold a player to United there was such uproar that Kevin Keegan addressed fans on the St James’ Park steps in January 1995. Hall is no Andy Cole but Geordies are keeping their mythical rivalry with United alive more than 30 years on.

United are teeming with unsellables, so they are turning to a seemingly sellable asset in Amass. They may as well secure a fee for goalkeeper Radek Vitek, having signed the 35-year-old Karl Darlow. Vitek was excellent for Bristol City on loan last season,

There would be the usual clauses for a young sale: sell-on, right to match future bids and/or a possible buy-back option.

Shaw is the great survivor at United as he prepares for his 12th season there after an impressive 2025-26. He has had three truly good campaigns and one was during the misleading period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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United will have to decide whether to offer Shaw a new contract next year. When they do, they can’t show blind faith.

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