Two seasons into his Old Trafford career, Aaron Wan-Bissaka has cemented himself as an established rock within Manchester United's backline.
Now his third season at the Theatre of Dreams is underway – and there are very few attackers who have managed to get the better of the 23-year-old, with his crunching challenges and expert reading of the game earning the full-back rave reviews from former players.
Wan-Bissaka made the most tackles in the division across the 2020/21 campaign, which wouldn't have come as a surprise to those who watch the Croydon-born man on a regular basis.
However, the modern game tends to demand that full-backs offer as much offensively as they do defensively – which has lead to people questioning whether the United defender has what it takes when going forward.
Here we take a look at the improvements Wan-Bissaka has made and if United need to recruit reinforcements in his position.
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Improvements offensively:
Although there is still a very long way to go in terms of improving offensively, there is no doubt that Wan-Bissaka looks more comfortable in the attacking third now than he did when starting his Old Trafford career.
After failing to find the back of the net throughout his time at former club Crystal Palace and in his first season in Manchester, the full-back went on to score two goals during the 2020/21 campaign – with both goals highlighting composure and calmness in the opposition's area.
Two goals in an entire season isn't a remarkable statistic, but it does show signs of improvement – and that is not the only area in which he has shown reasons to be optimistic.
Wan-Bissaka recorded five assists and created a further two clear-cut chances that weren't taken during the 2020/21 season, implying that the full-back is beginning to develop his understanding of where his teammates are when in attacking areas.
On top of this, his crossing accuracy rose from 14% in the 2019/20 season to 22% in the following campaign, despite playing 43 fewer crosses. This highlights that the United man has not only improved the accuracy of his crosses, but he knows when to retain the ball instead.
When speaking to Sky last season during a 4-2 loss to Liverpool, Gary Neville said "Teams used to say let Aaron Wan-Bissaka have it. It’s getting to the point now where he’s got to be dealt with, because he’s starting to have an impact going forward."
However, despite his improvements being widely acknowledged, it is still clear to see that the full-back remains far from the finished article when entering the attacking third.
Perhaps having a regular, naturally right-sided player ahead of him in Jadon Sancho could allow him to create a relationship down that right-hand side and allow him to get forward more – after having makeshift right-sided attackers ahead of him in the previous two campaigns.
A need for reinforcements?
Wan-Bissaka has made the right-back position his own at Old Trafford, but that is not to say that bringing in another right-back is beyond the realms of possibility.
United have been linked with Kieran Trippier across this summer's transfer window, and with a week still remaining until the window closes, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his staff may still be considering a last-minute deal.
Although Wan-Bissaka has improved offensively, bringing in Trippier would be a good bit of business as he would be much more suited to playing against teams that sit back and use a low-block.
The Atletico Madrid man has shown throughout his career that he is a great crosser of the ball and also deadly from set-pieces – elements of the game that the current United full-back can still improve heavily at.
There is no doubt that reinforcements at right-back would bolster United's options and push the 23-year-old onto bettering himself offensively, but if the squad remains as it is, we still may see Wan-Bissaka come on leaps and bounds this season.