On Thursday, Manchester United announced their second signing of the summer with the addition of right winger Ashley Young. The England international joins an already strong group of wingers at Old Trafford consisting of Luis Nani, Antonio Valencia, and Park Ji-Sung. Valencia returned from injury in the best form of his life, Nani was selected Player of the Season by his teammates, and Park's work rate has kept him in the side for seasons now so Young will be hard pressed to find space in the starting 11. With 4 top wingers available to select, there are a number of ways that Sir Alex could go to accommodate them all.
The first possible option would be a change in formation away from the traditional 4-4-2. Park and Young are both capable of playing in the middle of the park and Ferguson would be able to have three of his wingers on the field at the same time with the now popular 4-2-3-1. It is unlikely that Sir Alex will switch his tactic because of the emergence of Javier Hernandez last season. Chicharito has shown himself to be the second striker in the squad behind Wayne Rooney. The pacey Mexican is not as big or as strong as Berbatov or Rooney meaning he is not suited to play as a lone striker but needs to play off of a partner. In United's current 4-4-2 formation, Rooney plays a role in which he drops deep into the space between the oppositions midfield and defense to collect the ball which virtually turns the formation into a 4-2-3-1 anyways.
The second option seems like the most obvious one: sell one of the players. Valencia basically proved himself indispensable with his fantastic play towards the end of last season after returning from a horrific injury. On the other hand, despite being named United's Player of the Season by his teammates, Nani looks the most likely to be on his way out. Despite leading the assist charts and scoring 10 goals, the Portuguese winger found himself on the bench at the climax of the season, the Champions League final against Barcelona. Nani has long been a disruptive force in the United dressing room, and now seems like as good as time as ever to part ways with the player who was expected to replace Ronaldo. Despite speculation that he will be on the way out, Nani has expressed his desire to stay and fight for a spot at Old Trafford and Park has expressed a similar desire as well. The South Korean has endeared himself to the United faithful with his hard work and determination making him a difficult player to sell.
The third and final option that I will present seems to be the most likely of the three which is to play them all. Last season, United played a total of 63 matches in all competitions which would give 4 wingers plenty of opportunities to get playing time in the first 11 including many key games. Ferguson would have no problem keeping all of them happy if this was the path he decides to take.
With the start of the season still basically two months away, Sir Alex has plenty of time to figure out what he will do with his squad. More purchases will be made this seasons and with that some players need to be sold. Wes Brown and Darron Gibson look to be close to sealing deals to see them leave but who else will be following them out the door this summer?
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