Granit Xhaka: A player Manchester United should be interested in

Granit Xhaka

In a bid to solve their midfield woes, Manchester United have been linked with a plethora of midfield talents in recent months, but it’s an old transfer target, Granit Xhaka, who might add some depth to the Red Devils’ ranks.

It was back in 2012 that the Old Trafford outfit were feverishly interested in signing the Swiss international, who’s been a Borussia Monchengladbach staple since moving from FC Basel last summer.

This term, the 21-year-old has continued his ascendance at Stadion im Borussia-Park, starting in all but one of the Foals’ 14 Bundesliga matches, the omission being as a result of suspension.

And what better way to announce one’s self as a tough-tackling midfielder than to earn a one-game ban just six games into the campaign, following five matches in which the youngster picked up a yellow card in each.

Of course, it’s not the clean tackling efficiency that United may be looking for, but if nothing else is the first sign of a player who’s far from aghast to the idea of getting stuck into the scrappier parts of the game.

So far this season, only Christoph Kramer has won more tackles for ‘Gladbach than Xhaka, who’s been successful with 66% of his attempts to dispossess the opponent, contributing 27 tackles in total.

Marouane Fellaini was brought in by David Moyes over the summer with the aim of adding that much-needed steel to the midfield of the Premier League champions, but things haven’t gone exactly to plan.

Between the two of them, the Belgian and his central cohort Michael Carrick have completed just 23 of a combined 54 tackling attempts, while Tom Cleverley has been United’s most efficient tackling technician, with 20 successful attempts.

Still in his development, it’s clear that certain parts of Xhaka’s approach need to be more finely-tuned. The playmaker is second only to Julian Korb in terms of average defensive actions performed by his side’s midfield talents this season, making five per game this campaign, reaching as high as seven on three occasions in the Bundesliga.

It’s not all about the physical for Xhaka, however, as there is a more cunning side, which has perhaps struggled to shine as much as it did during the player’s Basel days. The player boasts a passing accuracy of 88% this term, a figure that only Cleverley can match among Moyes’ current midfield resources.

Some of the player’s growing pains are to be expected, though, as Xhaka is moulded into a more prominent part of Borussia Monchengladbach’s setup. Last season, the starlet made just 22 appearances for his club, creating a mere 22 scoring chances for the German outfit.

This term, he’s well on his way to eclipsing both of those numbers and has already created 10 chances for the club, just shy of one key pass per game.

It’s a sign that he is evolving in his role as a more rounded engine-room player, however. Never quite renowned for his ability to score or create goals, Xhaka’s strengths lie in his refusal to give the opposition space and time on the ball when in his area of the park, a quality that United have been seeking for some time, and then some.

As aforementioned, Xhaka is still going through growing pains as part of an elite European club, but it’s easy to see that there’s potential to be shaped into a hugely more effective player.

While many may be of the assumption that it’s another big-money addition that Moyes needs most in his core, Xhaka’s workhorse outlook is something that could yet add another surprise option for the English giants this summer. A diamond in the rough who’s just waiting to be unearthed.