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Manchester United were forced to come back from two goals down against Nottingham Forest to claim their second win of the new Premier League season.
Manager Erik ten Hag was forced to make plenty of injury-enforced changes with Christian Eriksen playing in midfield instead of Mason Mount and Diogo Dalot playing as the left-back in Luke Shaw‘s absence.
The Portuguese did a decent job despite primarily being a right full-back. The 24-year-old did play there on occasions last season while he also has experience of playing in that position during his loan stint with AC Milan.
United without a specialist LB at the moment
United currently are without an experienced specialist left-back with Tyrell Malacia still sidelined since pre-season while Brandon Williams was sent out on loan to Championship side Ipswich Town.
Young academy graduate Alvaro Fernandez, who was on the bench against Forest, is still considered raw and was close to sealing a loan move to Granada CF in La Liga.
That decision might still be reversed but United are also looking at bringing someone in as temporary cover with Shaw set to be out until November.
The Peoples Person had reported that United had contacted the representatives of former Chelsea star Ryan Bertrand, who is currently a free agent.
EXCL: Manchester United made contact with Chelsea to ask about conditions of Marc Cucurella deal on potential loan — no bid or concrete talks yet 🚨🔴🇪🇸
United looking for LB opportunity but not too expensive — there are three candidates in the list. No decision made yet. pic.twitter.com/KLR9RwW5Q1
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 26, 2023
Now, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has thrown current Chelsea star Marc Cucurella’s hat into the ring.
United are working with a limited budget this summer and hence cannot afford to do expensive permanent deals and hence the conditions of a loan deal are being discussed between the clubs at the moment.
“Manchester United made contact with Chelsea to ask about conditions of Marc Cucurella deal on potential loan — no bid or concrete talks yet.
“United looking for LB opportunity but not too expensive — there are three candidates in the list. No decision made yet.”
Cucurella to the rescue?
The Spaniard really shone during his Brighton stint but has failed to hit the heights expected of him since his €65 million move to the Blues.
He was also coveted by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola but the London side ultimately won the race for the Spanish defender.
Romano also mentioned that the Red Devils also have other options that they are looking at.
United obviously have major problems in defence and up top so it will be interesting to see which player they ultimately choose to bring in before deadline day.
