Welcome to another edition of Shopping For Carrick, in which The Athletic looks into problem positions Manchester United may look to strengthen before the 2026-27 season.Part one of the series assessed central midfielders, and part two went over potential options on the left wing.Part three deals with left-backs.Hall, the ideal but seemingly unlikely targetAs reported in this week’s Transfer DealSheet, Lewis Hall is well liked by those at United, but a deal for the Newcastle full-back looks highly complicated. Their summer sales of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes have reduced the pressure to part with Hall unless a dramatic (and expensive) bid is made. That said, there is some merit in breaking down why the 21-year-old has become admired by so many.Last season was difficult for Newcastle, but Hall’s output bore some similarities — if not outright improvements — to Luke Shaw’s production from left-back at United.Hall offers nearly everything required from a modern left-back. He’s a quality one-versus-one defender when up against a winger (‘back-foot defending’ in the chart above) and is intelligent when pushing up to cancel out emergent threats from the opposition (‘front-foot defending’). He is not an integral part of Newcastle’s early build-up in the same way Shaw is for United, but offers a lot across the thirds once given the ball in space.He is a frequent, if erratic, crosser of the ball (Hall attempted 2.6 open-play crosses per 90 minutes last season, but registered an 18 per cent success rate), and has the speed, intelligence and match-reading ability to be a pest when looking to get past his man.This is a player more than good enough to deputise for Shaw, and to push him for the starting position in Michael Carrick’s setup. But with a contract at Newcastle running until summer 2029 (and a possible re-negotiation/extension around the corner), United may have to wait.How does Tielemans fit at Man Utd?Tifo FootballRaum is the all-action optionIn the 2025-26 season, 86 players completed more than 900 minutes at left-back across Europe’s top-five domestic leagues (Shaw totted up 1,675). On that list is David Raum, who captains RB Leipzig and runs. A lot.As illustrated in his season-level dashboard above, the German’s approach from full-back is straightforward. He often hugs the touchline before making an underlapping run and a quick one-two with midfielders to get up the pitch. In the final third, his objective is to get his head up and find a way to assist a team-mate. Last season, the 28-year-old ranked fifth among all players across Europe’s top-five leagues for chances created, producing 3.4 opportunities for colleagues per game.Raum’s creativity comes from his wand of a left foot. He is one of the best left-footed crossers in the world (he attempted 3.6 open-play crosses per 90 last season), capable of a variety of deliveries from close to the touchline or the left half-space. His deliveries aren’t speculative hit-and-hope efforts, but intentional, dangerous crosses designed to get the best out of whichever player he is trying to find.Benjamin Sesko can vouch for the quality of Raum’s crossing. The United striker paired well with him in the past, and Raum’s athleticism (as a player from the Red Bull network of clubs, it should come as little surprise that he can run for days) means he can battle with some of the trickier wingers around.