What will Tyrell Malacia bring to Man Utd?

The Dutchman becomes the first signing of Erik ten Hag’s era as Manchester United boss after joining from Feyenoord.

The 22-year-old Netherlands international joins the Red Devils on a four-year-deal in a transfer worth an initial £13m with £1.7m in add-ons.

First expected to sign with Lyon, Manchester United swooped in at the final stages of the deal and completed negotiations in swift fashion for Malacia.

Rated amongst the best young fullbacks in the league, Malacia will likely provide competition to Luke Shaw in the left-back department. Alex Telles and Brandon Williams could yet depart this summer in search of first-team football away from Old Trafford.

So, what will Malacia bring to Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United side?

 

Defensive intensity

In many respects, Malacia’s skillset is similar to that of Patrice Evra’s. Just like the Frenchman, Malacia has an insatiable willingness to cover the flank and is an industrious fullback in that sense.

He is happy to cover ground going forward and tracking back as well. Malacia possesses all the skillsets you would expect from a fullback. Especially defensively, Malacia is very effective in defensive duels.

Last season in the Eredivisie, Malacia averaged 3.7 tackles per90 and was successful with nearly 72% of those tackles, indicating his effectiveness in tracking back where is also comfortable in handling one-v-one battles down the flank. Mirroring Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s strengths in that sense.

 

Encouraging numbers in passing department

Feyenoord averaged the second highest possession share in the league behind Ajax with 58.8%, and naturally this presented Malacia with the opportunities to do more with the ball and showcase his ability in possession.

Hailing from the Rotterdam academy, Malacia has always been very competent with the ball and is never one to shirk from the responsibility of keeping it under pressure.

He averaged 57.04 passes per90 in the league last season and had a pass success rate of 86%, which is impressive considering the fact that a lot of his passes came in the opposition half and higher up the pitch as well.

In terms of his creative contributions, Malacia had four assists in the Eredivisie in 21/22 from 4.46 xA according to Infogol. On average, Malacia had 0.14 xA per90 in the league which is

not exceptional but certainly a good base to work from for his development as an attacker at United.

At United, depending on the kind of tactical philosophy that Ten Hag chooses to implement, Malacia’s different strengths will come to the fore. As stated earlier, he is also very athletic and comfortable covering large ground with great intensity over the course of matches, which will make him an asset whenever United are exposed in transition down the flanks.

And if United choose to be a side that dominate possession week in week out, Malacia’s ability as a crosser and chance-creator in the final third will no doubt come handy.

 

Exciting dribbler as well

Another reason to be pleased about Malacia’s skillset is that he is also someone who attempts dribbling past opponents with rapid shifts and drop of shoulders whilst pacing down the flank.

Last season, Malacia averaged 2.4 dribbles per90 and managed to have a very impressive success rate of 66% throughout the season.

This is another one of his strengths as a full-back which just adds further value to this deal as a bargain for Manchester United. With his ability to dribble and pass, Malacia is also an exciting presence as a winger, given the fact that Malacia is athletic and in time, will be coached to make overlapping and underlapping runs similar to Luke Shaw which will benefit United’s wingers like Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

Christian Eriksen could follow Malacia as Ten Hag’s next signing meanwhile a move for Frenkie de Jong remains complicated to complete.