Marouane Fellaini of Manchester United is set to become a free agent after this month and it is being reported that instead of extending his stay with the Old Trafford outfit, he will seek a move to North London as Arsenal have shown considerable interest in signing him.
Sir Alex Ferguson always stressed the importance of ‘balance’ in a team which want to win silverware. The legendary Scottish coach believed that for a team to be successful, you need players of different profiles who complement and understand each other.
Many consider, the midfield aspect of football to be the most important ingredient to the success of a team. Certainly, a manager like Pep Guardiola revolves his entire playing structure of his team around his midfield. Midfielders come in different shape, size, types and while some are considered to be classier than others, the importance of the “regular Joes” cannot be overlooked.
Teams with flair players all over the pitch will certainly fail to put in the hard work, carry out the manager’s tactics to the letter and most importantly not do the dirty work required to grind out a result on bad days; case in point, Brazil’s 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 edition of the FIFA World Cup.
Coming to the story in hand here, how does the football world rate Marouane Fellaini, exactly? A deadwood with no creativity in midfield? A hard worker who will always put the team before himself? A player with zero creativity and hence not worthy of a big team?
Well, all of it depends on the perspective from which a player is seen and more importantly how well he is used by a manager. Victor Moses failed as a right winger at Chelsea but Antonio Conte managed to make the Nigerian an important member of the Blues league winning squad back in 2016-17 by playing him as a wing-back.
Marouane Fellaini was brought to Manchester United by David Moyes from Everton. At Merseyside, he was a star player but his profile will never quite fit the swagger of the rest of the midfield players in the United squad. The likes of Pogba are dynamic and decisive unlike Fellaini, who will more often than not go unnoticed.
So why should Arsenal sign him? The Gunners midfield has flair players like Jack Wilshere, Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey who can cause considerable damage with the ball at their feet. However, they do lack a hard-tackling, tactically disciplined central defensive midfielder who will do the dirty work.
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Fellaini provides that and more with his versatility to play as a number 9 as well should his team be found trailing in the dying minutes. He is the ideal “jack of all trades” kind of player and any manager’s dream to have as a squad player. It is no accident that all the managers who have come to United, has kept Fellaini in their squad and Arsenal would certainly have done a good bit of business if they can get him for free.
