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Former Manchester United left back, Alvaro Fernandez Carreras, continues to shine at SL Benfica after being sold by the club last summer.
The Spaniard is quickly becoming one of the most exciting young players in Portugal as he has made the left hand side of Benfica’s defence is own.
The 21 year old has already played 16 matches in the league and the Champions League, scoring two goals and providing two assists.
His fine form has not gone unnoticed by his former club and there have been transfer rumours that the club is keen to activate his buy back clause in the January window as Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw continue to struggle to gain match fitness.
Previous manager Erik Ten Hag admitted that the club was certainly looking at the option of resigning him, while new head coach Ruben Amorim is said to be a fan of the player after seeing him up close and personal over the course of 2024 as his city rival while at Sporting Lisbon.
The Ferrol born fullback massively impressed as Benfica crushed rivals FC Porto at the weekend, scoring a goal and receiving a rating of 7.3 on Sofascore.
The young left back found himself in space on the wing with a well timed run and cut inside before firing the ball into the net with his weaker foot. He also won five out of his six ground duels and had a passing accuracy of 82%.
Data also compares him favourably to fellow United left back target Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. His performances so far this season see him outperform the Canadian in cross percentage, defensive actions and progressive passes.
He also performs equally to the Canadian left back in other key metrics such as duel and aerial percentages won and also carrying the ball forward. All in the context of playing almost than 200 minutes less than the Bayern Munich man.
It is clear that Carreras is a star on the rise and intriguingly his style of play would fit well into Amorim’s system.
The Portuguese coach will begin with his tried and trusted 3-4-3 formation, which means the wingers play a hybrid role of defenders and attackers.
It is hard to envision Malacia or Shaw succeeding in this position as despite both being comfortable on the ball, they are more traditional left backs. Amorim’s system demands that his wing-backs “provide width in advanced areas, using them as a key part of his attacking armoury.”
Carreras’ incredible engine and ability to contribute in attacking areas would certainly make him an intriguing candidate for the role.
The only drawback is whether the youngster would be tempted in coming back after receiving much more trust at Benfica than United and whether he would want to disrupt his fine progress right now. In addition, it has been reported that he would also prefer a return to another former club, Real Madrid.
Nonetheless, with a new coaching team and head coach, who he will know better than most of the United players due to his year in Portugal, he may be tempted to give life at Old Trafford a second chance.
Feature image Carlos Rodrigues via Getty Images
