Is Axel Tuanzebe the answer to Manchester United’s centre-back problems?

Axel Tuanzebe lit up the Parc des Princes Tuesday night as Manchester United beat Paris Saint Germain 2-1 in their opening Champions League tie.

The centre-back had the arduous task of marking two of the world’s best attackers, in Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, having been thrusted into a back three following a defensive injury crisis for the Red Devils.

What makes the 22-year-old’s display even better is the fact that he hadn’t played a competitive game, at senior level, for 10 months.

His last appearance in a red shirt was against Colchester United in the Carabao Cup December 2019 where he could only play 65 minutes before suffering a hamstring injury.

In a career riddled with injury thus far, we could’ve been excused into thinking that the defender might struggle against PSG.

However our concerns were quashed in the 33rd minute when he went neck and neck with one of the fastest players on the planet, and with his side 1-0 up, made a perfectly timed tackle on Mbappe having kept up with him over 40 yards.

He would fit comfortably into the back three formation thanks to his pace and power, with former Aston Villa teammate James Chester believing he was the “quickest” defender he has seen.

Suddenly we all began to remember just how good this England U21 International is. Louis Van Gaal promoted him into the first team as soon as he took over, even involving the then 17-year-old in his 18-man Premier League squad versus Crystal Palace.

Tuanzebe was a stalwart for the duration of the 90 minutes Tuesday, winning 100% of his aerial duels, making seven clearances and finishing the game with a 92% pass rate.

United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer singled him out saying: “Axel did fantastic, we know he’s a good player.”

Solskjaer’s side has a clear defensive issue having conceded 12 goals in just four Premier League games. Their 6-1 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur was shambolic and the haphazard defending of the side surely means Tuanzebe deserves a chance.

Eric Bailly is set to miss four weeks of action with an injury so the Norwegian manager will have to decide between Victor Lindelöf, who started in United’s opening league defeat to Crystal Palace, or Tuanzebe for Saturday’s game against Chelsea.

With Harry Maguire returning to full fitness, it would make perfect sense to pair him with the in-form defender who has just effectively dealt with a future Ballon d’Or winner.

After all, this is the same player Jose Mourinho spoke so highly of in preseason a few seasons ago, having only seen 10 minutes of him saying: “The potential is there, you see it immediately.”

The Portuguese manager handed him his Man United debut in an FA Cup match against Wigan in January 2017 as United eased past the Latics 4-0.

He continued to impress in the newly formed Premier League 2 (U23 side) and was a surprise starter in United’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal in May 2017.

The Congo-born man was instrumental in his loan spell at Aston Villa for the 2018-19 promotion winning campaign, he played 28 times for them and put in a brilliant performance in their 2-1 playoff final victory over Derby County.

He returned to United for the 2019/20 season where he impressed the newly appointed Solskjaer during preseason and was involved in all the matchday squads.

Eventually, in October 2019, he was selected to start in a back three versus Liverpool at Old Trafford but suffered a hip injury in the warmup.

A month later he returned but could only complete five minutes against Sheffield United as he aggravated an old injury.

Ever since, the young defender has been plagued by injury after injury which saw him only earn five Premier League appearances last season.

Despite these constant setbacks, Tuanzebe has all the potential to become a leading figure for Man United and fans have already been touting his name as a future United captain.

In fact, he has previously stated his ambition to be captain: “It is a target of mine. Not necessarily captain but to be a leader and someone the players can turn to.”

Although he hasn’t been capped by the England senior team yet, Gareth Southgate has been watching him for a few years now and is sure to promote him into the first team if he continues to put in the same level of performance as he did in Paris.

As he showed midweek, he has all the attributes to cope with Chelsea’s attacking options but it’ll be another tough task, if he does start, as he’ll face up against Timo Werner.

Tuesday was the defender’s first outing so far this season and it looks like it’ll be the first of many as United appear to have found Harry Maguire’s long-term centre-back partner.