Manchester United have lost their previous three matches and Erik ten Hag now finds himself under serious pressure to turn things around at Old Trafford.
Losing narrowly to Bayern Munich was perhaps expected, but the defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend meant that the Red Devils have won just two of their opening five Premier League fixtures, hardly the mark of potential champions.
Ten Hag’s summer business has yet to truly deliver either. Mason Mount has made only two appearances, while Andre Onana was at fault for Bayern’s opening goal, failing to save Leroy Sane’s shot which gave the German side the lead.
Big-money signings who have arrived at Old Trafford haven’t done too well in the past, with the club having a rich history of paying overinflated transfer fees for a selection of stars, only to watch them severely underperform.
Think to the likes of Paul Pogba (£93.2m), Fred (£47m) and even Romelu Lukaku (£75m) as players who arrived with much fanfare, only to largely disappoint during their time spent in Manchester.
Another key example is that of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who joined United from Crystal Palace back in the summer of 2019 when they were managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, yet his value has declined rapidly since.
How much did Manchester United sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka for?
Having enjoyed a decent start to life in the United hotseat, the Norwegian boss aimed to strengthen his squad during the summer transfer window as he looked to challenge Manchester City for domestic prizes.
In came a handful of signings such as Harry Maguire and Daniel James along with Wan-Bissaka, and all three were perhaps slightly surprising signings.
The defender cost the Old Trafford side a staggering fee of £50m and his new boss lavished praise on him the moment he stepped through the door, saying he was “one of the best upcoming defenders in the Premier League.”
He also said: "He has the right work ethic, talent and mentality to play for Manchester United and he fits exactly the type of player that we are looking to bring into the squad to help us improve and push on further.”
The Englishman had only played 46 games for Palace since emerging from their youth academy during the 2017/18 season, and although he clearly had plenty of promise, spending £50m on someone with just 42 Premier League appearances represented a massive gamble.
What is Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s market value now?
United evidently overpaid for the right-back in the first place, as his value upon joining the club was only €12.9m (£11m) and although it rose to a high of €57m (£49.5m), it has declined rapidly since then due to a lack of consistency.
The £90k-per-week dud is now only valued at €14.7m (£12.7m) – according to Football Transfers – and this represents a staggering 284% decline from his original transfer fee of £50m four years ago.
The defender is still only 25 years old, indicating that he may still have his peak years ahead of him, but It's fair to say that he hasn’t quite lived up to his extravagant fee in a United shirt.
Why is Aaron Wan-Bissaka worth this much?
Across his first season at United, the Englishman seemed to enjoy a decent start, ranking fifth in the squad for big chances created (four) and fourth for successful dribbles per game (1.5), suggesting that he was a regular fixture in the opposition half, trying to create as many chances as possible.
7.08
0.8
One
2.4
4.4
These numbers dropped during the 2020/21 campaign however, with Wan-Bissaka creating only two big chances and succeeding with just one dribble per game, only good enough to rank him tenth and ninth across the squad.
Despite a positive start to his career in Manchester, the former Palace academy graduate looked like he was going backwards and was clearly struggling during his third season.
He did rank first across the squad for both tackles (2.5) and interceptions (1.7) per game, yet his attacking metrics continued to decline as he created just one big chance throughout the whole season, clearly suggesting that he wasn’t improving in this area.
Jamie Carragher even dubbed the defender as “reckless” after he gave away a penalty against Chelsea in November 2021 and when it was announced that Ten Hag would be the new manager from the start of the 2022/23 season, Wan-Bissaka’s future appeared to be in question.
Indeed, he failed to start one game up until the hiatus for the 2022 World Cup, as Ten Hag favoured Diogo Dalot in the right-back slot and with the January transfer window fast approaching, a move seemed inevitable.
However, an injury to the Portuguese defender gave him a lifeline, and he certainly grabbed it with both hands as he eventually finished sixth across the squad for overall Sofascore match rating.
Does Aaron Wan-Bissaka have a future at Manchester United?
Although the club have had a nightmare with the player, especially considering they shelled out a fortune for him, only for his value to decrease by 284%, his recent performances indicate that this may soon begin to creep back up.
According to FBref, when compared to positional peers, Wan-Bissaka ranks in the top 14% for interceptions (1.53), blocks (1.53) and clearances (2.89) per 90 across Europe's big five leagues, demonstrating that he has improved substantially since January.
If these performances continue, then his value will surely rise higher and higher, although it remains to be seen whether it will ever reach the £50m mark again.
However, if his performance levels dip, Ten Hag may move him on, and it looks like the club won’t receive anything close to the fee that they spent on him four years ago.
He has missed the previous two games – first through illness and then after suffering a hamstring injury – and with United shipping seven goals during these encounters, could Wan-Bissaka be more important than people are led to believe?
While he has divided opinion at times, his sharp decline in value suggests that United did have a shocker with his transfer and overpaid for a promising player yet again.