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Michael Carrick has said Manchester United could look to sign a left winger this summer – even though they spent the past three transfer windows under Ruben Amorim getting rid of wide players.

Historically, many successful United sides have been built around wingers.

George Best, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo are regarded among some of the club’s greatest players – while others such as Steve Coppell, Gordon Hill, Willie Morgan and Andrei Kanchelskis also made a significant impact.

Although not a winger in the orthodox sense, Busby Babe Eddie Colman was nicknamed ‘snake hips’ for his ability to change direction at top speed.

United began last season with five experienced wide players.

Between them, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Amad Diallo cost the club £173m.

Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho both came through the United’s youth ranks, although the latter was at Atletico Madrid before moving to Manchester as a 16-year-old in 2020.

Sancho is currently on loan at Aston Villa, having spent last season at Chelsea, who paid a £5m clause to send the 25-year-old back to United last summer rather than sign him permanently.

His contract is set to expire in the summer, and it seems unlikely United will keep the England international, signed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021. Solskjaer intended to play him on the right but the player said his preference was to play on the left.

Antony left for Real Betis in a £21.65m deal last September, a couple of days after Garnacho joined Chelsea for £40m.

Rashford, who also prefers to play on the left, spent the second half of last season at Villa following a fall-out with Amorim, and then joined Barcelona on loan last summer.

Barca have a £26m option to buy Rashford, and talks have started over the possibility of triggering it.

However, sources close to the player have indicated no agreement is in place – and given Rashford has two years left on his £325,000-a-week United contract, further negotiation is going to be required.

It leaves Amad as the only orthodox wide player available to Carrick, although he has also used Patrick Dorgu, who joined from Lecce as a wing-back under Amorim, in a more offensive role.

Although it is not clear yet who will be in charge once the season has reached its conclusion, Carrick has repeatedly said the decisions he is making are for the club’s long-term interests.

Asked if left-wing specifically was an area that might need addressing, Carrick replied: “I think you’re always looking at the balance of the team and the squad to give you the utmost flexibility, so it’s definitely something to look at, for sure.”

Carrick did state the situation “was not a huge concern at the moment” and that he felt there were options available to him that allowed him variety in attack.

“We can still be dangerous,” said the 44-year-old.

“Matheus [Cunha] has played that role and caused big problems and had big moments. When he plays wide, he is tough to stop one-on-one.”

But Cunha is happiest drifting away from the touchline and likes to get on the ball in deeper or more central positions.

In the junior ranks, Gibraltar international James Scanlon was virtually an ever-present in the Premier League 2 side for the first half of the season and is capable of playing in an attacking role on both sides of the pitch, but he has now joined League Two promotion chasers Swindon on loan.

England Under-20 international Shea Lacey made a huge impact in three substitute appearances for the senior team but he prefers to play on the right. In any event, he has only been involved once since getting sent off in the FA Cup third-round defeat by Brighton on 11 January, when he was an unused substitute against Fulham last month.

Few supporters would claim United were wrong to get rid of Sancho or Antony.

Some believe Amorim could have handled the Garnacho situation better, although the Argentina international is yet to impress on a consistent basis at Chelsea, while Rashford’s time at his boyhood club seemed to have run its course.

Nevertheless, at a time when United are trying to control their budget and costs across the club are being cut, the wide-left situation highlights an historical weakness in their recruitment strategy.

It also raises questions about the wisdom of hiring a coach like Amorim, whose tactics differed so significantly from what fans had been used to.

United were prepared to sanction the £65m signing of Antoine Semenyo in January, but the former Bournemouth man opted to join Manchester City.

Amorim wanted to use the money elsewhere in his squad. United’s refusal suggests they are targeting specific areas, and the left side of their attack is one of them.

They are among several high-profile Premier League clubs to be linked with RB Leipzig’s 19-year-old Ivory Coast international Yan Diomande, who is likely to cost around £70m if he opts to move in the summer.

Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon has also been mentioned, although it is not clear whether United have an interest in the England international.

United’s situation is complicated by the fact they are prioritising bringing in at least one, and possibly two central midfield players.

Experienced Brazil captain Casemiro is leaving at the end of the season and £50m Uruguay international Manuel Ugarte has only made three substitute appearances – totalling 27 minutes – under Carrick.

No changes can be made until the transfer window opens anyway, so, for now, Carrick must make the best of his present options.

“We’re always thinking of that perfect scenario of mixing players together and connections and seeing how it suits on the pitch,” he said.

Talent was never in question, but Six Nations appearances eluded Nick Timoney until this year and while the 30-year-old is yet to start for Ireland in the competition, the back row insists he is “not worrying too much about what number I’ve got on my back”.

The Ulster back row made his debut against the USA in 2021 but by the start of 2025, had made just four further appearances with two of those against the Maori All Blacks.

However, perseverance has started to pay off as after featuring against Georgia, Japan and Australia last year, Timoney has been introduced as a replacement in each of the three games in the 2026 Six Nations, crossing for a try in the opening defeat by France.

While the Dublin native would prefer to start when Ireland host Wales on Friday [20:10 GMT], he is happy to play his part and if that is best served off the bench, then so be it.

“Obviously I haven’t played in the Six Nations before this season and it’s something I’ve always dreamed of so obviously from that point of view just feeling very grateful to be given the opportunities,” he told reporters this week.

“Everyone wants to start and I’d love to start as well, a lot of people say to me, friends and family, have said to me, ‘you’ve been going well of the bench, when are you going to start’, obviously I’d love to start but I still feel like I’m playing a game.

“If you come on for 30 minutes at Twickenham, you could argue the game wasn’t necessarily in the balance at that stage but it’s a pretty important part of things.

If Timoney required reassurance that working hard would pay off, he did not need to look too far with Ulster club-mate Stuart McCloskey enjoying a rebirth on the international scene which he regards as “an incredible story of perseverance”.

It also highlights that age is just a number in the mind of Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, which has served as added motivation for Timoney.

“Stu is showing what we’ve already known at Ulster for a number of years, that he’s one of the best players in the world.

“It feels like it’s been the talk of world rugby but I wouldn’t say it is in any way surprising to me. I’m delighted for him.

There was a time when Timoney felt that door was indeed closed, but performances in the white jersey of Ulster have led to opportunities in the green.

“There were definitely times I was fairly sure I wouldn’t be playing for Ireland again,” he admitted.

“Like last year’s Six Nations, I didn’t get picked in the wider squad and when you’re 29 and you have a couple of caps and it’s not like you’re a complete unknown, it’s fairly easy to believe that the chances might not come round again.

Heading in football has been under the spotlight for more than 20 years – scrutiny born of fear and confusion.

Fear that the act itself could have long-term effects on the brains of those who do it most.

Confusion over why it happens and how great the risks really are.

Science has begun to provide some answers, but there is still a long way to go before we fully understand the impact of something that has been part of the game since its very beginning.

The research to date has been worrying enough to force some rule changes by governing bodies.

But, for many people, the threat still feels abstract – worthy of attention only when another of the game’s greats is diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Some take comfort from the belief that football has changed, that coaching is different, the balls are lighter and the modern game is played more on the ground.

But is it?

Well, that very much depends on which league you are watching.

New data shows the Scottish Premiership records significantly more headers per match than most of Europe’s top leagues.

BBC Scotland looked at figures from the start of season 2021 until now, covering aerial duels and headed clearances, in the top leagues of Scotland, England, Italy, France, Germany and Spain.

In the Premiership, players challenge for the ball in the air, on average, 42.5 times per match – a 71% increase on France’s Ligue 1, at 28.5 times per match.

Fans watching the Premier League in England can expect to see 28.7 aerial duels per match – nearly 50% fewer than Scotland.

With headed clearances, France provides the starkest comparison.

In Ligue 1, you will find an average of 16.8 headed clearances per match – that is almost 50% fewer than Scotland’s 24.7 per match.

Further data also shows the trend continuing with comparable leagues.

There are almost 60% fewer aerial duels in the Czech First League.

The top leagues in Denmark, Sweden and Norway also record over 40% fewer aerial duels than the Premiership.

Looking at the combined metrics of Scotland compared to 10 top leagues around the continent, there are more than 35% more heading actions in Scotland.

The figures may not come as a shock to those who watch Scottish football on a regular basis, but they do throw up questions about what it means for the discussion around safety.

Since the death of former England centre-forward Jeff Astle from dementia in 2002, scientists have increasingly linked repeated head impacts to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can also lead to neurodegenerative disease.

In January, a coroner investigating the death of former Scotland and Manchester Utd centre-half Gordon McQueen said: “I am satisfied that, on the balance of probability, repeatedly heading footballs contributed to his developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”

A field study by Glasgow University in 2019 found that former professional footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease. That figure was even higher for defenders.

“I actually looked, a few years ago, at the heading rates across World Cups, going all the way back to 1966,” Dr Willie Stewart, who led the study, said.

“The stats actually showed that the amount of headers in games were increasing over that 50-year period, rather than declining, as some people might have thought – so I’m not too surprised.”

In 2022, the Scottish FA introduced a number of changes aimed at minimising the risk.

Heading the ball was banned for under-12s and, in the professional game, there was a ban on heading the ball during training the day before and after a match.

Clubs were also told to limit training exercises that involve repeated heading to one session per week.

The SFA’s chief medical officer Dr Jonny Gordon said: “The Scottish FA has led the way in research into head trauma in sport, working in partnership with the University of Glasgow in a landmark 2020 field study and additional research published in 2022.

It is also worth pointing out the huge health benefits associated with playing football.

Dr Stewart’s study found that former professional players were much less likely to die of problems like cancer and heart disease.

So, why is it that the football spends more time in the air in Scotland?

Former defender Willie Miller played 560 times for Aberdeen and earned 65 caps for Scotland.

“The stats are a little surprising and I don’t know what we’re doing wrong,” the BBC Radio Scotland Sportsound pundit said.

“One of the refreshing things this year has been watching Motherwell. They are not a tall team and constantly build up from the back and play a lot of good football.

“Maybe we need to work harder on the coaching side and I know the SFA has been doing some work on it with the youngsters, but clearly we have to turn the product round a bit for the good of the game and the health of the players as well.”

Others who have played north and south of the border believe it could be a cultural issue.

“Yes, but I don’t think it will ever change – it’s just the Scottish culture,” former Scotland and Hearts defender Christophe Berra suggested.

“I’ve seen it at Tynecastle when new managers come in and want to play the ball on the ground, but when it’s not going well, the fans can get on your back and just want it in the box.”

The science is still emerging and the risks are still being understood.