Manchester United enjoyed a productive end to the January transfer window, moving late on deadline day to complete the signing of Marcel Sabitzer.
The Austria international has joined United on loan until the end of the season from Bayern Munich. He was signed in the final hours of the window after United announced that Christian Eriksen has been ruled out until late April or early May through the injury sustained in the 3-1 FA Cup win over Reading on the weekend.
“I feel that I am at my peak as a player, and that I can contribute a lot of experience and energy to the squad,” Sabitzer said upon his arrival. United obviously agreed, having rejected the chance to sign Isco, Saul, Houssem Aouar and Yannick Carrasco.
The move was certainly opportunistic. Sky Sports claims that United were originally interested in signing Sabitzer’s Bayern team-mate Ryan Gravenberch, who worked with Erik ten Hag at Ajax, but the 28-year-old seems like a good fit nevertheless.
Here, Mirror Football looks at Sabitzer’s credentials and examines what he will offer to the Red Devils for the rest of the 2022/23 season.
Plugging a gap
At the most basic level, Sabitzer will fill a hole in Ten Hag’s midfield. Eriksen has been a key player for United this season, knitting together play in a hybrid No.6/No.8 role.
The Danish midfielder has so often been the link between defence and attack, receiving the ball from Casemiro and passing it on to the best-placed attackers. Eriksen’s intelligence and experience has provided United with a crucial measure of control. His record of two goals and nine assists in 31 appearances doesn’t do justice to his influence.
Eriksen isn’t the only player out at the moment, either. Ten Hag revealed that Scott McTominay is "nursing a small problem", while Donny van de Beek is sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
After a summer of high-profile departures which included Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic, United were arguably already short in central midfield. Injuries left Casemiro and Fred as the only established midfielders at Old Trafford, so Sabitzer is a much-needed addition.
Box-to-box
Sabitzer’s move from RB Leipzig to Bayern in 2021 is yet to work out – hence the mid-season loan. He has just two goals and two assists in 54 games for Bayern, which are hardly numbers to get excited about.
But the Austrian clearly has the ability in attacking areas; he scored 52 goals and provided 42 assists in 229 games for RB Leipzig and was even more prolific at feeder club Red Bull Salzburg, where he contributed 27 goals and 21 assists in 51 games.
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Sabitzer is a central midfielder, but his goalscoring exploits come from a forward-thinking mindset. He played much further forward at Salzburg, with his hot streak coming after Sadio Mane was sold to Southampton in September 2014.
Julian Nagelsmann – the man who has just allowed him to leave Bayern – is the person credited with turning him from a forward into a box-to-box midfielder at Leipzig. His simple explanation at the time: “We wanted him on the ball more.”
Gerrard as an idol
Interestingly, for a player who has just joined United, Sabitzer grew up idolising Steven Gerrard, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo. “He was a more defensive player than me, but his mentality was fascinating to me,” he told The Athletic of the Liverpool legend in 2020. “He always led the line and carried his team. I looked at that and took it all in. I wanted to play the same way.”
Like Gerrard, Sabitzer took on captaincy duties at Leipzig, where his ultra-competitive attitude shone through. He may have played deeper at Bayern, where he only started seven times in the Bundesliga this season amid competition from Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, but he is an attacking midfielder at heart. His long-range shooting is an asset United can utilise.
Former United defender Rio Ferdinand is certainly happy with Sabitzer’s arrival at Old Trafford. "I'm absolutely delighted. If I was going to say I'm going to get a short-term replacement for Eriksen at the drop of the hat, Sabitzer is the player you'd want,” he said on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel.
“He will be a really good signing, [a] really experienced player, played in big games, played in the Champions League regularly, he knows his way around the football pitch.”
Had United not got a deal over the line for Sabizter, then Ten Hag was ready to thrust new creative responsibilities onto Fred, but he also admitted that something would be lost. He said: “It’s quite clear Christian brings top quality to our squad and especially he has some specifics that are hard to replace – for instance, his impact in the final third with his final ball.”
The hope is that, while Eriksen recovers from his ankle injury, Sabitzer can provide that impact in the final third.
