Manchester United needed a last-gasp winner from Casemiro to get past Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Wednesday to set up a mouthwatering quarterfinal showdown against Liverpool.
The team put in yet another disjointed performance and injuries are not helping as manager Erik ten Hag had to once again reshuffle his back line.
Harry Maguire was declared to be not fit enough and in came Sofyan Amrabat who played as the left back while Victor Lindelof moved into the heart of the defence.
The Moroccan struggled big time in the first-half and the Dutchman decided to shunt him out to the right and play de-fact right back Diogo Dalot on the left.
Full-back is an area of concern with the Portuguese being the only specialist option currently at the manager’s disposal.
Full-back options dwindling
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is sidelined while Luke Shaw could miss the rest of the season. Tyrell Malacia’s absence is now about to enter the eighth month while Sergio Reguilon’s loan was cut short.
Alvaro Fernandez was deemed to be not ready for the step-up while Ten Hag has also refrained from throwing academy gems like Harry Amass and Habeeb Ogunneye into the deep-end.
It is clear that in the summer, INEOS need to address this problem position. The former Crystal Palace star has been linked with a move away with Saudi, and Inter Milan among his suitors.
As per Tuttosport, United have scouted Torino wing-back Raoul Bellanova and have been impressed with what they have seen and are expected to come back and watch him in the months to come.
The Italy U21 international is enjoying his best-ever season and has primarily been used as a wing-back whereas he has usually played as the orthodox right-back before.
Breakthrough season
In 27 games across all competitions, he has one goal and five assists to his name and his performances have alerted the Italian FA with national team manager Luciano Spalletti contemplating calling him up for the Euros.
As per the report, Aston Villa are also keeping tabs on the 23-year-old, who seems to have usurped Denzel Dumfries in the pecking order for Villa’s targets to solve their right-back woes.
“The team coached by Unai Emery in Italy carefully examined Inter player Denzel Dumfries and Bellanova. Positive reports on both, but the Italian is 4 years younger and earns a third of the Dutch.
“This is why his name is more interesting to the team from Birmingham. Incredible to say that a year ago, Raoul was backup for the former PSV Eindhoven star during their time in Inter Milan.
“There was also an observer from Manchester United at the Olimpico for the Roma-Torino game. And the player, who was born in 2000, responded with a super performance and the winning pass for Zapata’s equaliser.
“The Red Devils have Wan-Bissaka on the way out and are looking for a full-back to pair with Diogo Dalot. Who knows, maybe this Bellanova might be tempted to Old Trafford. In the meantime they have taken notes and the feeling is that they will return to see him live in the coming weeks.”
Bellanova’s aims
Torino would definitely like to keep hold of their new star who just arrived in the summer for €7 million but is already valued at close to €25 million now.
Even at his young age, Bellanova is extremely experienced and has already turned out for Inter where he won the Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup, Atalanta and Bordeaux in France while coming up through the ranks at AC Milan.
His acceleration and dribbling ability have caught everyone’s eye and a possible European Championship call-up will only lead to increased interest.
Torino know they have a winner on their hands and are expected to make a hefty profit from a future sale. As for Bellanova, all he wants is “run madly up and down the flank to try to achieve his 2 big goals of the season: to accompany Torino back to Europe and win a place in the national team for the European Championship”.
The player is versatile and has filled in at left back and at left wing-back and his attacking prowess will no doubt impress Ten Hag. The ball is now in INEOS’ court.
