Nuno Mendes (18) - Sporting Lissabon

Manchester United's next target - a thread!

Sporting teenager Nuno Mendes is probably most comparable to Luke Shaw at the moment. The first way this is evident is through the way he attacks. He often likes to progress the ball in wide areas, and isn't afraid of coming inside with the ball, similar to Shaw.

Despite being a full-back, Mendes is quite good at dribbling and offers a clean technique right here. With his movement, acceleration and agility, he can't be defended that easily, as you can see right here.

He could also work as a real winger.

As you can see right here, he intercepts the ball nicely, drifts centrally and acts inverted. While being at his highest pace, he's still composed enough to recognize the run of his teammate in behind and pass the ball. https://twitter.com/janp09Video/status/1285676979761696776?s=20

Helping him with this is his strong physique, which allows him to burst through tight areas and into large spaces; a good skill for beating a press out wide.

In terms of crossing, he is a low volume crosser meaning he doesn't usually look to cross the ball into the box, instead, he prefers to pick out a teammate with a smart pass.

His long-range and short-range passing is really inconsistent though. He has the skills to play excellent long-range passes and is really efficient in the build-up, even under, pressure in terms of passing, but he lacks consistency right here.

As mentioned before, he could do with some help on his positioning. What this means is both offensively and defensively he can be caught one step behind the game occasionally. This would likely require the development of his game reading, which is natural for most younger players

One solution for this could be, to play him at wingback and allow him to adjust himself easier to Premier League football. Having another defender in his back, would also allow him to offer even more impact and the attack, while not having to worry about his defensive play.

However, defensively specifically, his already-mentioned fantastic physicality allows him to make good recoveries on the occasions that he is caught out.

Another weakness of his is his heading ability. Despite standing at 1.84m, he tends to misjudge balls in the air. This can be problematic at full-back as he will be sometimes tasked with covering the far post.

Again though, as with positioning, he can learn to read balls in the air better as he steps up to better coaching staff and to play more with more experienced teammates

Conclusion: United are about to sign a really interesting, but raw player. Personally, he's already on the same level as Williams for me and could take his place in the squad.

He would be a really interesting player to watch.

Likes and RTs are appreciated.