Aaron Wan-Bissaka has “a future” after successful outing against Burnley

After Tuesday night’s performance against Burnley, Manchester United outcast Aaron Wan-Bissaka seems to have been brought in from the cold by Erik ten Hag and his teammates.

Manchester United were victorious in their first competitive game for six weeks due to the Qatar World Cup, and one man who was key to opening the scoring was Wan-Bissaka.

The 25-year-old’s acrobatic volley provided Christian Eriksen with his second goal of the season, and as a right-back who is normally praised for his defensive capabilities, Wan-Bissaka showed last night he can also bomb forward.

Prior to the fixture, Wan-Bissaka had only played four minutes this season coming on as a substitute against Liverpool in August. This is due to a combination of injuries, illness, and the irreplaceable form of Diogo Dalot.

Ever since the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, United’s No.29 has seen more action on the bench than on the pitch as Dalot was the chosen right-back for both Rangnick and Ten Hag.

However, the Portuguese full-back was unavailable for selection last night, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka seemed to seize this opportunity with both hands.

Wan-Bissaka’s future looked dim at United with potential moves away from the club looking realistic but yesterday’s performance could have prolonged his shelflife at Manchester United.

In the press conference after the game, Erik ten Hag was full of positives for the Englishman and hasn’t counted him out of his plans, saying:

“He has a future,” Ten Hag explained. “He has had some good years at Man United, but from the start of this season, he has had a lot of illnesses and injuries. So, from the restart on, he is fit, so he could train with the team, and you see him progressing.”

Wan-Bissaka played in both of the friendlies, set up during the World Cup, against Real Betis and Cádiz CF this has helped him regain some match sharpness which was evident against Burnley.

This was noticed by Ten Hag who said:

“His fitness levels are getting better. His performance levels are getting better and I am really happy today with his performance. And he gave an assist and, especially, the way he gave the assist.

“About his movement, the timing and a great pass from Bruno. But the assist was great, so I am happy with his performance. He did good.”

His manager wasn’t the only one singing his praises as Marcus Rashford, who himself scored a sensational solo goal to secure the 2-0 scoreline, was enthusiastic about Wan-Bissaka’s attacking ability and his role in the squad.

“He’s a massively important player, we all know about his defensive qualities and, for me, he just needs confidence to be pushed to go forward because, when he goes forward, he can create goalscoring opportunities for us.

“Today, he had no right to get that ball, but he got there anyway, and it was a good ball across. It looks like a simple goal in the end, but it isn’t.

It’s the movement and the timing from all three players really, and Christian arriving late in the box, getting a tap-in. Yeah, it was a great goal and ‘Azza’ played a massive part.”

Having a second quality player, like Wan-Bissaka, competing for the right-back position can only be a positive headache for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United as competition inspires growth and will make sure that Dalot will not become complacent.