Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes Manchester United’s attacking duo Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford have uncertain futures following the arrival of Alexis Sanchez.
Speaking on The Debate, the ex-Arsenal and England midfielder believes Lingard and Rashford could endure prolonged periods on the bench, as Alexis hasn’t been signed to just be a squad player.
“I worry about Rashford and Lingard, because how are they going to get a game now? At the moment, you’d probably say (Romelu) Lukaku, (Anthony) Martial and Sanchez would be the front three,” Merson said.
Lingard has been in fine form for United this season, scoring and creating 11 goals in as many Premier League starts, but how long can he keep Alexis at bay? Alexis isn’t likely to be kept out of the starting lineup for long, and so long as he performs well, he won’t be dropped.
Rashford has contributed nine goals in 13 Premier League starts, but he’s been named on the bench in his last three top flight appearances, and has Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for competition in attack, let alone Alexis.
Despite the young United duo showing such promise in the last two-and-a-half seasons, they could be fearing the worst upon Alexis’ arrival. Mourinho has signed a new deal with the club, with the aim to win a league title before his contract is up.
Is he really going to overlook a player who scored 80 goals in 166 games for Arsenal? Alexis scored 30 goals in all competitions last season. It’s hard to see him being left out for long.
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