Surreptitious appeals for any spares are part of the match-day soundtrack at Old Trafford. Except on Sunday, 48 hours before the transfer window closed, it was not tickets the touts were sourcing but left-backs on behalf of the club.
Decent pay and conditions. Immediate start. Preferably, you will be left-footed, capable of tackling, overlapping and tracking back. Applications to Messrs Wilcox and Berrada, Sir Matt Busby Way, M16.
Despite trawling through the transfer sale rail trying to solve a problem that has beset Manchester United for years, the window closed with Michael Carrick praying for the continued health of Luke Shaw, a player whose United career is premised on absence.
Since the arrival of Shaw in 2014, a trio of understudies have been and gone: Alex Telles, Tyrell Malacia and Sergio Reguilón (loan). Patrick Dorgu does at least kick with his left foot, but is a hybrid figure. Ditto recent addition, 19-year-old Diego Leon. That leaves Harry Amass, for whom the club had been looking for a new home, although he did not move on deadline day.
So, despite being linked with a raft of candidates, including Myles Lewis-Skelly, Lewis Hall, Racing Santander’s Jorge Salinas, Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde, RB Leipzig’s David Raum and most recently Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen, it remains Shaw or bust.
