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Five transfer questions for Man Utd this summer

First comes the small matter of the new manager, but Tuesday night’s defeat to PSG proved that Manchester United need more than positivity to return to the elite of European football. They need investment. So regardless of whether it’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Mauricio Pochettino or Mark Hughes in charge, the club needs to make some decisions…

1) Is Diogo Dalot ready or do United need a right-back?
Those watching on French television on Tuesday night were treated to a pre-game montage of clips showing Ashley Young out of position, being beaten at the back post, or simply booting the ball out of play. The message was clear: The 33-year-old converted winger was there to be exploited. By August, Ashley Young will be a 34-year-old converted winger, and any team with title aspirations should not be starting any season with him as anything other than utility back-up and a motivating voice.

The question is whether Diogo Dalot has the ability to replace him. The early signs are that he is potentially very good but not quite ready. He seems to agree, saying just last month: “I’m young, I need to learn a lot, and just to try to train properly every day and give my best.”

Djibril Sidibe and Joao Cancelo have both been linked and are the right age to bridge that Young-Dalot gap, but neither would come cheap, while the excellent Aaron Wan-Bissaka would cost upwards of £50m if Crystal Palace have any sense at all. And since when did a Manchester club spending £50m on a full-back ever work?

2) Is it time to give up on Luke Shaw?
That might sound like a curious question just four months after Manchester United handed him a new contract worth £190,000 a week, but is anybody kidding themselves that Luke Shaw is anywhere near the kind of form that threatened to make him the long-term successor to Ashley Cole for England? He was as poor against PSG as he has been for much of the season, offering little in attack and getting exposed all too often in defence. In comparison to Andy Robertson, he looks like a competition winner.

United were long linked with Alex Sandro last summer before Jose Mourinho decided that spending £47m on Fred was a better use of his budget when he had both Young and Shaw as left-back options; but if a new manager is backed this summer, then surely both full-back positions should be a priority? Unless, of course, the new man really is Pochettino, for then we might see the real Luke Shaw stand up (and show his man inside).

3) Who is the new Nemanja Matic?
He’s the one player Solskjaer dare not rest, with Matic starting every single game for United in the Premier League since the Norwegian took over. He did give him the day off when Reading came to visit in the FA Cup, but nobody watched Scott McTominay that day and thought they were witnessing the long-term successor to a player who will be 31 (and knackered, because he plays every minute of every game) when next season begins.

Matic’s successor will have to be bought, and it could well be one of the most important purchases of the post-Fergie era at United. Tanguy Ndombélé, Declan Rice, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Lucas Tousart are five names mentioned and any one of those would be a massive upgrade on McTominay. This all reminds us of that summer when United were chasing Eric Dier hard. How weird was that?

4) Should they ‘do a Liverpool’ and throw money at the centre-half problem?
The amount was unprecedented but the problem with unprecedented things actually happening is that they then set a precedent: A world-class centre-half will now cost at least £75m. Napoli will want big money for Kalidou Koulibaly, Inter Milan will want biggish money for Milan Skriniar, Leicester will want a slab of money for Harry Maguire (and he is far from world class) and Real Madrid will want all the money in the world for Raphael Varane. The going rate has going, going, gone through the roof.

The cheaper option – thanks to a clause that benefits the player and the buying club – is £25m Toby Alderweireld. Certainly, the emergence of Victor Lindelof as a competent centre-half has lessened the need to throw silly money at the problem, and buying the Belgian (less largesse, more sense) would free up money for more pressing concerns.

5) Do they sign a striker or back Marcus Rashford and sign a winger?
The answer might be ‘both’, particularly if Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez (who ‘wandered like a soul in pain’ on Tuesday night) depart for pastures new this summer, but if we presume that Juan Mata will be the only significant departee, it might be that right wing is the priority, with players like Nicolas Pepe and Steven Bergwijn (who can play on either flank) looking like reasonable options as competition for Jesse Lingard.

Or, having watched Marcus Rashford look slightly out of his depth against the might of PSG, would a new Manchester United manager be brave enough to concede that a proven, established goalscorer is required for the club to move up to the next level? Could Lukaku be shifted out for a player more suited to United’s style? The risks are great – alienating a media and fanbase married to the idea of the hometown hero – but the rewards could be a United side that could compete with City, Liverpool and Tottenham. Difficult call.

Sarah Winterburn