BBC share possible Manchester United XI for 2023/24 with five new signings, it’s not good…
Manchester United are busy trying to get deals done for when the 2023/24 season kicks off. It’s important to get it right.
The transfer window is open and Manchester United are actively searching for ways to strengthen the squad for next season.
The stalled takeover is an awkward complication, however, by time the transfer window is said and done, we expect a similar haul to last season’s recruitment, which involved five first team signings, plus a back-up goalkeeper.
How the team will look at the end of the window, is open to interpretation. One thing we can tell you, is that the team won’t look like the XI BBC Sport shared on their social media pages yesterday…
READ: Confirmed Manchester United transfers in, out, loans, releases, youth for 2023/24
BBC post Manchester United XI for 2023/24
BBC Sport’s Match Of The Day twitter account shared a graphic predicting the club’s possible starting XI for next season, attributing it to anonymous supporters they had spoken to.
The accompanying text read: “#MUFC fans think they’ll be fielding five new signings on the opening day.”
And here is the XI they posted, with an unfamiliar 3-4-2-1 formation…
- GK: Jordan Pickford
- CB: Raphael Varane
- CB: Lisandro Martinez
- CB: Kim Min-Jae
- RWB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka
- LWB: Axel Disasi
- CM: Casemiro
- CM: Bruno Fernandes
- CAM: Mason Mount
- CAM: Alejandro Garnacho
- ST: Harry Kane
The good news is this team will never see the light of day…
This proposed XI goes to show how so-called respected media like the BBC can get it so horrifically wrong. There is no chance of United’s team looking like this next season.
It starts with the formation. Erik ten Hag has consistently started with a 4-3-3, almost without deviation, so to suggest United would go with a 3-4-2-1, is odd.
And even then, the players don’t fit, with centre-back Axel Disasi at left wing-back a peculiarly odd choice for the role. Where is Luke Shaw?
As for Jordan Pickford in goal, well we hope this doesn’t happen. He was linked via Talksport earlier this month, and is one of the goalkeeper options who would actually be a downgrade on David de Gea.
Of the other new signings touted, Mason Mount, Kim Min-Jae and Harry Kane, only the Chelsea midfielder now looks possible.
Min-Jae is Bayern-bound, while The Guardian reported a week ago that United have pulled out of the race for Harry Kane.
As for last season’s top scorer Marcus Rashford, he is peculiarly missing from this possible starting eleven.
The BBC XI is of course just a bit of fun, but surely there should be some insight that goes into this too? We can’t all get predictions right, but there should be a duty not to get it so terribly wrong…