United’s £117m bit-part players

A clash between Manchester United and Liverpool always has a lot riding on it. Heroes are born and legendary status is assumed but the matchup this weekend may have the highest stakes in quite some time as both managers are under intense pressure to perform.

Has fallen out of favour during Mark Hughes’ rebuild and will welcome a chance to revive his career.

Of the 166 Premier League players loaned out this season 77 are now playing in the Football League (36 in the Championship, 26 in League 1 and 15 in League 2). Money is obviously key, with Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, and Chelsea being overused but very real examples.

Tottenham Hotspur have overtaken Manchester United as the Premier League side with most academy products in the first-team squad, after the impressive breakthrough of Harry Kane and Ryan Mason last season, a study revealed.

However, they did have a game in hand on all of the clubs above them and recovered to beat Arsenal to the title by one point, losing only three matches all season. It sold nearly £200million’s worth of players to English clubs this summer, with Mainz 05’s general manager declaring, “There’s never been as many offers from the Premier League as in this summer”. However, if the visitors want to take something out of the game, they would need to be positive in their approach and look for three points from the first whistle.

Like Federation Internationale de Football Association, Taylor’s concerns also surround the integrity of competitions as well as opportunities for young players in England.

However, with Coutinho out against Manchester United, Liverpool no longer have the option of using this partnership and chemistry to their immediate advantage. But against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, they were overwhelmed by a second-half tactical shift from their opponents.

That hasn’t been the case further afield in the United Kingdom, with Aston Villa fans being the only Premier League supporters thus far to make any kind of reference to the situation. When asked why he did this, he did state that these players were better than the English alternatives. The money is floating about the leagues.

No other squad in the division has as low an average age as the North Londoners according to Transfermarkt, at 24.8 years among the players they have registered on their first team books.

But why should the Premier League worry about developing English talent?

Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam says it could take time for new signing Xherdan Shaqiri to fully gel at the Britannia, but the Scot has backed the playmaker to be a big success at the Potters.

Some experts mention limiting foreign players within Premier League teams, but doing so would damage the commercial revenue which the league brings in and the clubs rely upon.

In contrast, Alexis Sanchez played 86 per cent of Arsenal’s minutes in 2014/15 – more than any other recent signing in Europe’s top five leagues.