Michael Owen says ‘no player wants to play against’ West Ham United and Leeds United transfer target, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, after his latest performance for Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag’s side recorded a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night and Owen was left impressed with how Wan-Bissaka performed against his former teammate, Wilfried Zaha.
Manchester United will be kicking themselves because they conceded a late Michael Olise equaliser, but it could have been much, much worse.
In stoppage-time, as Man United pushed back further up the field to search for the winner, Patrick Vieira’s side caught the opposition on the counter with Zaha running through on goal.
The only issue for the Ivory Coast international is that he had Wan-Bissaka breathing down his neck and the defensively-sound right-back produced an outstanding game-saving last-ditch tackle.
Former England striker Owen was left impressed by Wan-Bissaka’s defensive display, his improvement in attack and his late tackle on Zaha, as he told Premier League Productions (18/01/23 at 10:10 pm).
“I think when the teamsheets came out and Wilfried Zaha saw that Wan-Bissaka was going to be marking him in that game, he would have been thinking ‘oh no’,” said Owen.
“No player wants to play against the likes of Wan-Bissaka. His problem obviously is on the ball and going forward. But he is improving that all the time.
“That was Wan-Bissaka to a tee (last-ditch tackle on Zaha in stoppage-time). That is the best part of his game. That late lunging tackle where he almost sweeps his leg around.
“But he played very well. Zaha switched sides because he was getting no joy out of him. Not many wingers do get joy out of Wan-Bissaka.”
WAN-BISSAKA’S FUTURE
Prior to the World Cup, and heading into the January transfer window, there was talk of Wan-Bissaka leaving Old Trafford, with the likes of West Ham and Leeds keen on his talents.
But, post-World Cup, Wan-Bissaka could argue that he has perhaps been his side’s best player, so there’s probably little chance of him leaving now.
Diogo Dalot has been one of Man United’s best players this season, but when he returns from injury, he might have to sit on the bench and the likes of West Ham and Leeds might have to look elsewhere.
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