Saul Niguez, a 21 year old midfielder playing for Atletico Madrid has been heavily linked with a move to Man United. Although initially signed by Real Madrid at the youth level, he moved to Atletico where he has risen up the ranks. This is not the first time he has been linked with a move to the Red Devils as there were a lot of rumours last summer. Manchester Evening News reported last season that United had sent their chief scout Jim Lawlor to watch Saul in a Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen.
With Carrick aging and seemingly out of favour, and Bastian Schweinsteiger not living up to his full potential as yet, Saul could be a good fit in midfield. Although his primary position is in central midfield, he is very versatile as we have seen this season. He’s been deployed as a right winger and a left winger as well. He could be used by United as a link between the defence and the attack.
While Saul does get forward at times, he’s more of a defensive minded player and that’s not what United need right now. His loan at Rayo Vallecano didn’t start off great as he made quite a few defensive errors. He would sell himself and get caught out way too easily. His decision making was also rash and he got sent off taking a yellow for the team when there was no need.
His reactions and attempts to deceive the referee just proved he was immature. However, he’s definitely improved since then. He’s made no defensive errors this season and has also made 26 interceptions. The Spaniard is also comfortable with the ball at his feet. The one advantage he has on his side over Carrick and Schweinsteiger is that he’s very young. Having played fewer games this season, he’s won more tackles than both Carrick and Schweinsteiger.
United at this stage would be better off trying to sign a striker, a winger or even a central defender. Saul will add depth to their squad though. Another thing is that they’ve tried so many players in that position trying to replace Paul Scholes and even Roy Keane for that matter but have failed. So it might make more sense to go for someone more established. Besides, he probably won’t start ahead of United’s current three.
