It was a left-field idea, in more ways the one. Take perhaps the best defensive midfielder at the World Cup, sign him for a club with a seeming need for another combative presence in the middle of the pitch and give him a first start. At left-back.
There was a logic to the illogicality, injuries the reason why Sofyan Amrabat, the man who hunted down Kylian Mbappe in the World Cup semi-final, has debuted in a Manchester United shirt as a deputy for Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia, not Casemiro. His attitude also helps explain it. “I told the manager I play where you need me and the team need me,” the Moroccan said. “If you need a goalkeeper I play where I can help.”
