Midfield was one of the major chinks in Manchester United’s armour last season with Casemiro struggling in his sophomore campaign in England.
He simply did not have the legs to cover the space left vacant in Erik ten Hag’s flawed chaos ball style while the intensity of games also seemed to catch him out quite frequently as he struggled to track back.
It was evident, even in pre-season and during the start of the current campaign, and that finally forced INEOS to act and in came Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain.
However, due to not having a proper pre-season, the Uruguayan has only started one game thus far with the manager taking out the Brazilian for Christian Eriksen in two consecutive league games.
Midfield depth
And while the Dane has done fabulously well, he cannot handle too much load while the club is also set to carefully manage Kobbie Mainoo’s minutes to avoid burnout
Coupled with Mason Mount’s poor injury record, it is clear that the Red Devils lack depth in midfield this term due to Scott McTominay and Sofyan Amrabat’s departures.
Toby Collyer cannot just be thrown straight into the deep-end and thus, there are plans to fasttrack summer addition Sekou Kone to the first team as per Givemesport.
The Malian has impressed Ten Hag and his coaching staff who feel he is ready to contribute and there are chances of seeing the 18-year-old make his debut in one of the cup competitions this season.
“Manchester United starlet Sekou Kone is on the fast track to making his senior debut after already exciting Erik ten Hag’s staff at Carrington, GIVEMESPORT sources have learned.
Kone set for United debut this season
“According to GMS sources, Man United could hand Kone his professional debut in one of the cup competitions, including the Carabao Cup.”
Kone is primarily a defensive midfielder but can also play further forward and caught everyone’s attention with his performances in the U17 World Cup where Mali finished third.
His breakthrough would be a ringing endorsement of INEOS’ youth-first approach with Leny Yoro tipped for the top while Joshua Zirkzee has also impressed with his all-round play.
The new co-owners have also significantly strengthened the academy set-up with signings such as Samuel Lusale, James Overy and Chido Obi-Martin.
Feature image via Instagram
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