3 reasons why Manchester United don't need to sign a right winger

If someone had told Jose Mourinho before the start of last season that his team would finish a staggering 19 points behind eventual winners Manchester City, he would have laughed it off with one of his usual arrogant comments in the media.

But it did happen of course, with the Red Devils finishing second behind their cross-city rivals. Football fans and pundits alike were licking their lips at the prospect of seeing a Pep Guardiola-Jose Mourinho rivalry in the English Premier League.

It hasn't lived up to the hype though, with their first season in charge ending with 4th and 6th place finishes for Pep and Jose respectively, and the Spaniard blowing away every team in the league in his second season at the helm.

As the new season approaches, Jose has often been "adviced" by pundits and fan-polls to sign a right winger to add the much lacking potency in attack that would help rival Manchester City to the title.

Mourinho is looking to reunite with former player Willian

Big names like Gareth Bale and Willian have been doing the rounds in the newspapers lately and even though one of them might still end up in the red of Manchester, Mourinho does not really need to spend the big bucks on a right-sided attacker, here's why:

#3 The Signing of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk

Fred was snapped up by Manchester United in the summer

"Why would the signing of a central midfielder mean you can't sign a right-winger?"

Yes, technically, Fred has been signed to aid the departure of the retiring Michael Carrick. But the real reason why the Brazilian or any other midfielder who may have been added to the squad by Manchester United was due to a whole different reason: Freeing up Paul Pogba.

At Juventus, Pogba was widely accepted to be one of the best midfielders in the world. But at Manchester United, he has been criticized for his sub-par performances since re-signing for the Red Devils 2 seasons ago.

Here's the difference: At Juve, Pogba was often playing as part of a 3 man midfield (mostly alongside Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo) and was given full liberty to attack, free of his defensive duties. The Frenchman played at the left side of midfield in a 4-3-3 formation, with his late runs in the box and long-range goals becoming a characteristic of his time with the Italian champions.

When he was signed by Mourinho, he was saddled with defensive duties and the box-to-box midfielder we were so used to seeing was suddenly not the same on the pitch anymore. The Portuguese manager is a big fan of players who have a high work-rate on the pitch (Willian, Lingard, Lukaku, etc), especially forwards who often track back to defend.

To play for Mourinho means you have to give your all on the pitch and that is something Pogba had a problem with. The midfielder could be forgiven for not wanting to spend time closer to his own box defending, as his primary qualities: Heading, shooting, crossing, strength and pace, are hardly done justice with.

The closer Pogba is to the opposition goal, the better attacking threat the team he plays for poses.

Hence Fred was signed so that Pogba could feature as part of a 4-3-3 formation and Mourinho could make full use of the Frenchman's attacking talent. In this setup, apart from the defenders and goalkeeper, Pogba, Matic and Fred are expected to start in midfield with 3 positions left in attack.

Lukaku and Sanchez are the undisputed starters going forward, with just 1 place left in the squad and Lingard, Rashford, Martial and Mata competing for it, all of whom have been played on the right wing by Jose.

This means there is literally no place for a right winger to come in and play. If a player is signed, it would mean upsetting squad balance and selling one of Rashford, Martial or Mata, all fan favourites.

#2 Jesse Lingard's form at the World Cup for England

Jesse Lingard has been in terrific form for England at the World Cup

Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford and Harry Maguire are grabbing all the headlines in England's brilliant run in the World Cup. But the Mancunian has consistently been putting in his finest performances on the world stage.

Jesse Lingard is finally being appreciated for his talents, with some dubbing him as the "English Iniesta". Rio Ferdinand was quick to point out that Lingard is the only player in the squad who can play one-touch football.

Gareth Southgate, the England boss, is a big fan of Lingard too. He described the Manchester United player as "the best performer" in his squad at the European Under-21 Championship three summers ago and rewarded with him his first senior cap upon taking charge of the national team.

Lingard has racked up some impressive stats in the World Cup with a passing accuracy of 93.38%. His work-rate has been appreciated too, as the midfielder ran an astonishing 15.4 kms in the quarter-final match against Colombia. Lingard covered the most distance of any player in the matches against Sweden and Tunisia too. He has additionally scored 1 goal and set up another for England in the finals.

Jose Mourinho may have a ready-made solution for his problems at the right wing, with Lingard entering his prime, also saving the club a lot of money by not signing any other player this summer.

#1 Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are both raring to go

Anthony Martial was not selected to represent France at the World Cup

Manchester United have on their hands, two of the most exciting and talented young players in the world, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. The promising duo enjoyed breakthrough seasons, but have struggled for consistency ever since.

On their day, both of these players look like the long-term solutions in attack they were originally signed to become for Manchester United. However, none of them has been able to nail down a place in the starting 11 due to new signings like Alexis Sanchez coming in or loss of form.

Martial was enjoying his best form in a United shirt before Sanchez was signed and was demoted to the bench. The Frenchman was not even selected to represent his country at the World Cup.

Marcus Rashford was in tears following England's victory over Sweden

Rashford has enjoyed more playing time than Martial under Mourinho, but with few places up for grabs in the squad, he has rarely started, mostly featuring in substitute appearances. He is part of Gareth Southgate's squad at the World Cup but is sparingly used, coming off the bench late in the game to run at tiring opposition defenders.

With the new season just under a month away, both of these players would be looking to earn their place in the Manchester United squad. Hugely talented, either of them could play at the right wing position and Jose Mourinho should give them a chance to impress him.