Manchester United‘s 2019-20 season has already seen some massive highs and lows, as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer builds a team that could ultimately challenge Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League a few years from now. The Red Devils manager has a vision which includes young, homegrown players, who could come good in the next 2-3 seasons.
The English club spent big on two signings, defenders Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but still need to make several signings in other areas of the pitch. Solskjaer has also done well in selling or loaning out players who don’t fit in his system or those he thinks are past their best with the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Chris Smalling, and Matteo Darmian leaving the club in the summer transfer window.
But, there are still a few other players who don’t hold much value currently at Old Trafford.
Let’s take a look at 3 players who, to our surprise, are still at Old Trafford.
Nemanja Matic
Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic made a huge impact at Chelsea when he returned to the club in 2014, helping the Blues to two Premier League titles. But the midfielder hasn’t quite had the same impact at Old Trafford despite joining the club just months after lifting his second league title at Chelsea.
Matic, who was a favourite under former manager Jose Mourinho, has fallen down the pecking order under Solskjaer, who has preferred the likes of Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay, and Andreas Pereira ahead of the Serbian midfielder. The 31-year-old midfielder is no longer the force that he once was as he has been slow on the ball and hasn’t offered the defensive stability he did at Chelsea.
United need new central midfielders and Matic should not have a future at the club, especially given the direction they seem to be headed in.
Marcos Rojo
According to reports, Manchester United defender, Marcos Rojo, was close to joining fellow Premier League club Everton in the summer transfer window, but the move fell through. The Argentine defender is another player who is not in Solskjaer’s plans as new signing Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, and highly-rated United defender Axel Tuanzebe are the Manchester United manager’s current choices at the back.
Although Rojo offers the versatility of being able to play at left-back and centre-back, he has been injury-prone, while also not being consistent in his performances since making the move to the English club in 2014.
Phil Jones
It was surprising to see Chris Smalling leave Old Trafford ahead of Phil Jones, who has been criticised for his performances over the last two seasons or more. The English defender was expected to become one of United’s best players when he joined the club in 2011, but he has failed to live up to those lofty expectations.
Jones, who joined United in 2011 and even won the Premier League in Sir Alex Ferguson’s last year in charge of the club, has regressed over the last 2-3 seasons and it is time that United sell him to make space for a different central defender at the club.