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10 hours ago
3 Alvaro Carreras has certainly made a name for himself since he was let go by Manchester United for a measly £5 million fee.
The youngster departed Old Trafford in the summer when Benfica opted to activate the buy option in his loan terms. Had he started 50 per cent of their matches in the second half of the term, they’d have had no choice but to pay the fee, yet still agreed to do so anyway after being impressed with his stellar showings.
It was a decision which raised the eyebrows of United fans and pundits alike when, last winter, Carreras was recalled from his temporary spell with Granada and, despite Erik ten Hag having no natural left-backs available in the squad, he proceeded to be sent on another loan to the Portuguese outfit.
Even now, with both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia – and deputising right-back Noussair Mazraoui – still nursing injury woes, Carreras would’ve proved incredibly beneficial to have as an option. Instead, the manager is reportedly considering deploying Jonny Evans as a makeshift left-back in their forthcoming fixtures to navigate his current absentee list.
United are already ruing Carreras’ sale
(Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)Carreras has since picked up where he left off with Benfica this season, enjoying a flying start to his permanent tenure and featuring in each of their opening nine matches – including two starts in their two Champions outings – both of which have been wins.
In the 180 minutes he played on the European stage, the 21-year-old recorded an 89 per cent passing accuracy, four key passes, four successful dribbles, five tackles, six interceptions and four clearances while also winning 10 out of his 14 duels, leading talent scout Jacek Kulig to label him a ‘monster in the making’.
As for his efforts in the Primeira Liga, the U21 Spain international has already notched six goal-creating actions, the most of any defender in the division and the fourth most of any player, according to Statman Dave.
As such, it’s no surprise that United are ruing their mistakes and already considering bringing him back to the club, where he never made a first-team appearance. They do have a buyback clause inserted into his terms, said to be in the region of £16.7m, although interest from European giants Real Madrid, whose academy he also played in from 2017 to 2020, may prove too lucrative to turn down.
Record in Portugal claim Carreras would prefer a move to the Santiago Bernabeu if he were to leave Benfica. However, Madrid may have to fork out a considerably higher fee of £42m to activate his buyout clause.
