BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - MAY 24: Manchester United's Noussair Mazraoui during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United at Amex Stadium on May 24, 2026 in Brighton, England. (Photo by David Horton - CameraSport via Getty Images) | CameraSport via Getty Images

12 months ago there was not a lot for Manchester United to be positive about. The team had finished 15th in the Premier League and had lost the Europa League final to an equally struggling Tottenham Hotspur side. Nevertheless, with the end of the season being the time for accolades and superlatives to be given out you have to find something to be positive about.

For many, that something was Noussair Mazraoui. In an article for The National, Andy Mitten claimed that “multiple insiders on the football side at United say Mazraoui is the best signing United have made for years.” This was a very popular sentiment shared by many different fans and social media accounts.

⚽️ Premier League Club Review:
🔴 Manchester United F.C. (15th)
🔸 Grade: U-
🏅 POTS: Bruno Fernandes
🛡️ Unsung Hero: Amad Diallo
✅ Signing of the Season: Noussair Mazraoui
❌ Disappointment of the Season: Rasmus Højlund#MUFC pic.twitter.com/37mpLV7i5U
— JW (@JoeW192911) May 29, 2025

The basis for Mazraoui being the best signing in quite some time came down to two things. Transfer fee and availability. Mazraoui was signed for a modest £12.8 million fee and was always available, making 52 starts in all competitions in four different positions. He wasn’t particularly great at any of them, but he was reliable, often described as a “steady eddy.”

Calling a “steady eddy” one of United’s best transfers in recent years was, unfortunately, justified. That’s not a knock on Mazraoui, it just shows how low the standard had become at United that so many recent transfers couldn’t even provide that level of contribution.

Still, 52 starts isn’t anything to scoff at. It’s a number you’d dream all your new signings will achieve. You’re obviously not going to start 52 games if you can’t stay fit but you’re also not going to start that many games if there are better players than you in the squad. Mazraoui performed better than most United players and was held in high regard by his teammates. He reportedly finished runner-up for the Matt Busby Player of the Season award as voted on by the players.

In a related story, Manchester United finished 15th.

That’s not a coincidence. Mazraoui may have been the second best player in the team but if your second best player is Noussair Mazraoui, you’re going to finish around 15th. Bayern Munich do not typically let good players leave, let alone leave for just £12.8 million. They sold off Mazraoui for cheap because Noussair Mazraoui is not a very good footballer.

Noussair Mazraoui was signed to play right back for Manchester United. In two seasons, he has started 28 Premier League games at right back or right wing back – United’s record in those games stands at 9 wins, 7 draws, 12 losses (32.14 win percentage, 1.21 points per match). In Ruben Amorim’s back three system, Mazraoui would often feature as a wide center back. However, United’s record wasn’t any better – 4 wins, 5 draws, 7 losses (25%, 1.06 PPM), with one of those wins coming under Michael Carrick in a back four. When Mazraoui hasn’t been in the starting XI at all, United’s record stands at 18 wins, 8 draws, 5 defeats (58.06%, 2.0 PPM).

Now With or Without You (WoWY) stats can be a bit dangerous if you don’t flood them with context, as there’s a ton of things you need to control for.

The first is obviously that most of this time was during the Ruben Amorim era where United were plain old bad. You can’t pin that on any one player but the same trend is there. United won 0.46 more points per game when Mazraoui wasn’t in the team during the Amorim era.

At the most basic level, United’s turnaround under Michael Carrick has been down to one thing. Carrick has taken a very simple approach and the simplest thing he’s done has been play United’s best players (in their best positions) and not play their worst ones. This was also the key to United getting much better results under Amorim earlier this season compared to last year. United got better players in attack but their worst players played a lot less. Manuel Ugarte and Mazraoui went from starting nearly every game last season to barely playing at all this year.

The Amorim era brings another caveat as it often meant Mazraoui was deployed as a wingback, which is objectively not his position. This is a valid point but it’s not an excuse to dismiss the entire period.

While Mazraoui wasn’t signed with wingback in mind, he was signed to play fullback for Erik Ten Hag, and the way Ten Hag set up his team his fullbacks were almost just as crucial to the attack as wingbacks were for Amorim.

Ten Hag had his wingers taking up very wide positions, pinning them to the touchline while the fullbacks would push forward into the most dangerous spaces.

Rashford is cooking his defender all night long yet United have him pinned out wide while Dalot continuously (poorly) leads the break, that never amounts to anything pic.twitter.com/fSKc1Byud6
— Pauly Kwestel (@pkwestel) September 26, 2024

United would often find themselves with Diogo Dalot being the highest man up the pitch. That United’s best chances would routinely fall to Dalot wasn’t an Amorim thing. It was a Ten Hag thing that continued under Amorim.

In order for this to work you need fullbacks who are good attackers. Knowing what he needed, Ten Hag pushed to sign Mazraoui. He felt so highly about Mazraoui’s attacking ability he started him as the no. 10 one game!

The type of fullback Ten Hag needed wouldn’t have much an issue shifting to wingback. It’s also worth noting United’s record under Amorim was better when...

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