DDG - Providing his level doesn't drop off significantly in 3 years’ time he could still be our keeper for a couple of years still, just like VDS. Considering we are apparently "trying" to build a young team, the experience of DDG could be vital.
AWB - What a signing he has been and he is only 21! He is only going to get better and in my view, providing AWB stays injury free, our RB spot is sorted for the next 7-8 years, or hopefully a decade, at least.
Maguire - Hasn't been exceptional so far but you can see the quality is there. Think he will eventually settle in to be a key player of our defence for the next couple of years. At this moment in time, he is probably the most suitable captain for our club.
Pogba – This is based on ‘if’ Pogba is to be here in 3 years’ time. He is in my opinion our best player and our most creative player, something we desperately lack when he is not playing in the team. Yes the consistency is not there with him but if in 3 years we have a team with at least 3-4 other world class players and a squad challenging for major honours, we won’t be so reliant on Pogba on his off-days.
Martial – Maybe a bit biased on this as he is my favourite player at the club. Think as a centre forward he is exceptional and suits the way Ole wants to play (or I believe the way Ole wants to play
) . He holds the ball up well and is able to bring others into play. Got pace and is a very good finisher, which due to his age will hopefully only get better. I think his creativity is very underrated by others and he also seems to get the best out of Rashford as well. I think him constantly being in and out of the team, being played on the left and due to several injuries we have yet to see him through the middle for a long spell to truly judge if he would be good enough there in the long-term. He needs to show he can become a regular 25-30 goal a season striker – minimum if we are to be challenging for trophies. He has also recently signed a new long-term contract and in my view we should look to try and develop him into a world-class centre forward, which I believe he can become has he has world-class attributes but he just needs to show it on a regular basis.
Other maybes: Due to the age and not seeing enough of them for longer spells, I am not 100% sure on the below but definitely have the potential to be regular starters in 3 years:
- Williams – Looks like a gem of a player and a true warrior! In my opinion, he should be given the number 1 LB spot immediately and just let him blossom and make the spot his for the next decade!
- Tuanzebe – My ideal CB partner for Maguire as I think his athleticism complements Maguire well. Shame he got that injury when I felt he was close to cementing the other CB spot ahead of Lindelof. Need to see Axel play a run of games in the league to really see if he is good enough in the long-term.
- Garner – Need to see him play more often in the first team to see if he can make the step-up. Should be starting in all our remaining Europa League games.
- Gomes - Believe his is currently injured but he should have been given more of a chance by now to show his worth in the number 10 position. His touch and passing ability from what I have seen of him in certain youth games is amazing but I'm starting to worry that he may not ever make it at this club for some reason, whether it's due to his size (which I believe isn’t relevant) or something else.
- Greenwood - Massive fan of Greenwood and thought he would have played more games in the league by this stage since we did not sign a striker. Clearly a brilliant finisher but in the modern game you need more than that and I have not seen enough of him to say if he will be a good enough all round striker as of yet. Definitely needs more minutes to show his worth.
- James - Brilliant start to his United career. Still think in the long-term he would be a brilliant squad player coming off the bench but who knows? Especially if he keeps up this trajectory.
- Rashford - Putting Rashford on this list even though we have seen him play significantly more compared to the above 6 names but Rashford is a player who I am a big fan off but still not 100% sure if he is someone who would be a regular starter in a title winning squad. However, the quality is clearly there and has a lot of the raw attributes and if he can improve his decision-making and finishing, he can be up there with the very best wide forwards in the world in my opinion. Probably in the form of his life right now and if he can build on this form and continue it for the next few months I will then be confident in trying to build a title winning squad with him in the starting 11.