Alex Telles’ arrival in summer generated plenty of excitement amongst the Manchester United fan-base.
The club desperately required some rejuvenated quality in the full-back department, and the Brazilian certainly promises to offer a new dynamic down the side’s left flank.
All the focus was placed on the 27-year-old’s attacking stats upon his arrival – it’s not exactly common to see a LB boast 26 goals and 57 assists for his club, even with the modern expectation of defenders having to contribute going forward.
COVID-19 has, however, limited Telles’ opportunities so far, with his only appearance coming against Paris-Saint German in the Champions League. The Brazilian managed to showcase glimpses of his quality in the cameo though, and got fans talking about his wicked delivery.
Former club legend and one man that certainly knows a thing or two about operating down the left, Denis Irwin, has dished out some praise to the defender. Speaking to the club’s official site, he said: “It’s an opportunity for him now, with the games coming up, to get his foot in there.
“And sometimes it’s through lack of injuries that you manage to hold down the place of the left-back position. I mean, we haven’t seen him too much [from him] defensively wise, but the Premier League is a tough league and he’s a full-back, so he’ll have to be good defensively. But we’ve already seen his qualities going forward in that game in the 70 or so minutes he played.”
Telles’ offensive traits could help him nail down a starting position at Old Trafford, as his crossing is likely to benefit the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood, players that enjoy surging into the area.
As seen from his assist tally ay Porto, the full-back certainly knows how to pick out his man. Irwin addressed the matter and nearly even compared him to the iconic David Beckham!
He continued to say: “There’s no doubt that, on set-pieces, he’s going to be a huge asset to us in that respect. Also, I’m not going to compare him to David Beckham! But it looks like he’s got a fantastic left foot that can whip a ball in with pace, which our strikers would love to get in at the end of.”
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