Last week, Luke Shaw reported bad news when he continued to rest for another 6-8 weeks due to a recurrence of his injury. Thus, in addition to Tyrell Malacia still missing, the absence of Luke Shaw forced Erik ten Hag to lock in Diogo Dalot on the left wing. Although the Portuguese defender plays quite well in this role, this is still a position that is not comfortable for his feet, playing for too long will cause his ball sense to be worn out.
In that context, looking back at the summer transfer window, it is easy to see that Man United made a mistake in their left-back strategy. Over-reliance on Luke Shaw's stability and expecting Malacia to return early has harmed Ten Hag.
Last summer, Man United sold Alvaro Fernandez to Benfica. This action of the club did not cause anger among fans because the day before, they were still drunk on victory after the FA Cup final. The amount of money M.U received from this deal was only 6 million Euros, with 3 million Euros in additional fees. The Old Trafford team also included a buy-back clause when the contract between Fernandez and Benfica expired in the summer of 2026.
It was thought that this was an unremarkable transfer, but M.U was wrong. In Benfica's shirt, Fernandez played very well. The 21-year-old star was the MVP in the Portuguese team's magnificent 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the second round of the Champions League qualifying round. Now, Man United can only regret it. If Fernandez develops well, his price may increase tenfold when M.U wants to buy him back in nearly 2 years.
In more than 2 years in charge at Old Trafford, the number of opportunities Ten Hag gave Fernandez was extremely limited. The Dutch strategist removed the Spanish star from the 2022 summer tour squad. In the summer of 2023, despite including Fernandez's name in the summer tour list, Ten Hag still did not use him in all 3 matches.
Fernandez's only official appearances under Ten Hag came in friendlies against Leeds in Norway and Lyon in Scotland, both in the summer of 2023, with Fernandez playing the first half. He then added 64 minutes against Athletic Bilbao.
Strangely, Ten Hag brought back Brandon Williams on the US tour this summer, despite the fact that he had been out for almost 14 months (playing just five minutes due to injury). During that time, Fernandez played 42 games on loan at Preston North End, and was named Preston's Young Player of the Season for 2022-23.
After that, the coaching staff, headed by Ten Hag, also decided to remove Williams to make way for Malacia to be Shaw's backup. Williams joined Ipswich Town on loan for 1 season. He made 17 appearances and did not play for any team since December 27, 2023. In July 2027, Williams' contract was released by M.U and to this day, the 24-year-old star has yet to find a new destination.
Man United loaned Fernandez to Granada on the last day of the summer transfer window in 2023. On the same day, the team borrowed Sergio Reguilon from Tottenham. The loan deal was originally for the whole season but was cut short as Malacia was scheduled to return in January 2024.
The extension with Malacia, the neglect of Fernandez and the half-hearted use of the contract with Reguilon are just some examples of Ten Hag's clumsy transfer strategy. Now, the Dutch coach is suffering the consequences of not having a proper left-back.
