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Rio Ferdinand suggests five players Manchester United should buy

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is building something special at Old Trafford. Ferdinand names five players the Reds should look forward to secure.

In this article, we analyse how would they fit at United.

Jadon Sancho

Position: Forward player mainly operating on the right and left flanks.
Role: Marquee Player
Style of Play: Sancho is a two-footed player with an ability to play as a right and left flanks in 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1.
He often starts wide and drifts centrally. He uses his pace to beat defenders and play passes into the middle for strikers or midfielders.
two common strengths — pace and dribbling skill, allowing Sancho to get in an optimum position to perfectly time and place a pass. This attests his brilliant tactical understanding and ability to read the game.
Roles he can play in the Manchester United Squad:
From his style of play, we can conclude that Jadon Sancho is the absolute mirror image of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood. The 20-year-old Englishman fits right in the highly productive front line of Manchester United. He can fill the missing piece and terrorize defenses from the right flank. Negotiations have started and transfer mogul Fabrizio Romano says we might have positive news soon.

Saul Niguez

Position and role: Midfielder, Engine, Box to Box, Leader
Style of play: Saul is a difficult midfielder to pin down. He is a box-to-box all-rounder: expected to win duels, start and be involved in attacks, trackback, and occasionally dictate the tempo. Put simply, he has the potential to play anywhere in midfield.
He can sit at the base of midfield and act as either destroyer or creator; he can play wide and add width and invention despite not being blessed with a tremendous pace and he can conduct play and score goals when unleashed further forward. One of Saúl’s key attributes is his ability to find and exploit space, whether that’s with an intelligent pass for a team-mate or a forward foray of his own.
How he fits into the Manchester United Squad:
Saul Niguez fits in for Scott McTominay’s role. The United graduate who recently signed a new deal till 2023 is a proper engine and kept Ole’s United in the fight for top 4 whilst running the midfield with Paul Pogba out for the first half of the season. Defensive capabilities and conviction while going forward, Scott Mctominay has it all and all of these features are seen distinctly in Saul Niguez. The only difference being that in Saul all these abilities are more finessed and on a more mature level, taking nothing away from Mctominay at the same time given that he is only 23 and has a mile to go. Andreas Pereira cannot sustain giving brilliant performances week in, week out. Ferdinand understands this and therefore suggests a brilliant option in Saul.

Ben Godfrey

Position: Center-back
Role: One of the many pieces that hold the team together, been referred to as the “ New Rio Ferdinand “
  Its no surprise that Rio has sung out Ben Godfrey’s praises this time around as well because why wouldn’t he, the seal of approval for the “ New Rio Ferdinand “ role was given by Rio himself.
How does he fit into the Manchester United Squad: His forward passing into the midfield is key to fluid, overloading attacks. A ball-playing defender who can defend with aggression and is positionally adept is a rare commodity. His ball-playing ability and confidence in possession allow him to break through the thirds, with his power allowing City to progress up the pitch and break opponents’ press. He can serve as a viable backup for Maguire and Lindelof. With Norwich playing the Championship next season, Godfrey is available for cheap. United should grab the opportunities with both hands.

Wilfred Ndidi

Position: Central Midfielder
Role: Midfield Powerhouse and Marksman
Style of play: Wilfred Ndidi breaks up play and recovers possession as good as any defender in world football and he rarely gets caught out of position. He ranked amongst the top three midfielders in the English Premier League 2019/2020 in terms of tackles and duels won and interceptions made.
How can he fit into the Manchester United Squad: With his qualities of breaking up play and recovering possession ever so well, he can prove to be a just replacement for Nemanja Matic, as Matic is well in his 30s and cant play week in week out. Ole can benefit a lot from Wilfred Ndidi as with his qualities he will be able to play attacking fullbacks and twin attacking midfielders with Ndidi as sole pivot without risking any other sections of his defensive gameplan.

Kalidou Koulibailly

Position: Centre Back
Role: Backbone of Defence
Style of Play: A large, aggressive, quick, and physically strong yet elegant player, Koulibaly is recognized for his aerial prowess, anticipation, positioning, tackling, character, technique, and passing ability as a defender. He has also been praised by pundits for his overall solidity as a player, and his ability to make interceptions.
How does he fit into the Manchester United squad: Koulibaly and Harry Maguire would prove to be a dream centre-back partnership for the faithful of the Stretford End.

Thomas Partey

Position:- Defensive Midfielder
Role and style of play:– He sits in front of the defense and is one of the best in the world at guarding a defense. His defensive output is incredible, leading by example, he covers vast acres of grass on the pitch. He is an excellent ball Winner that makes 2.49 successful tackles per 90 (Stats from Squawka Football) and also averages getting dribbled past once per 90 (Stats from Squawka Football).
He is 6ft 1 & competes very well in the air. A fantastic passer of the ball as well he makes 20 forward progressive passes per 90 and has a pass accuracy of 83.1% (Stats from Squawka Football).
How he can fit into Manchester United:– He is a perfect competitor/replacement for the Serbian Ace Nemanja Matic who’s reaching the twilight years of his career. He slots into that DM spot perfectly and can make an already exceptionally good defense even better. His ability to cover every blade of grass, intercepting balls with Paul Pogba, and Bruno Fernandes by his side would be a very valuable asset for Solskjaer. With a release clause of  €50m, he’s a no brainer signing. However, Arsenal and Chelsea are also heavily linked with the player and therefor create a messy competition and huge chain of negotiations.