Marcus Rashford [10]

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is hoping to use the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag as a “fresh start” at the club, after a number of disappointing seasons with the Old Trafford side. The England international, whose market value has dropped from €85 million in December 2021 to just €60 million today, struggled to find his best form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick but believes he could bounce back under Ten Hag. 

The coming January transfer window will undoubtedly bring with it a number of huge transfers between Europe’s biggest clubs, as giants of the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A try to rebuild their squads in time to win some much-needed silverware before the end of the season. 

Most of Europe’s biggest clubs have problems to solve in the January transfer window but very few have as big a hole in their team quite like Manchester United. Prior to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the club confirmed that want-away striker Cristiano Ronaldo had left the club, leaving a rather notable hole in Erik Ten Hag’s side ahead of the second half of the season. 

Manchester United kicked off 2023 in tremendous form, with a 3-0 win over Bournemouth that saw Erik ten Hag and his team move into fourth place in the Premier League table. Goals from Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford confirmed an easy evening for the Old Trafford side, as they quickly shook off the departure of Cristiano Roanldo last month and continued their march up the English top-flight table. 

To no great surprise, Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford struggled to hold back his ambitions for the second half of the season, following an impressive 3-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday. The England forward had scored his club’s first two goals of the afternoon and when asked if his side had now fought their way into the Premier League title race, the 25-year-old talent didn’t exactly say no. 

The richest and most valuable league in the world has added another €100 million in market value. Overall, 171 players saw their market values updated. The cumulative squad values of the 20 Premier League clubs now amount to around €10.4 billion. The biggest winners are Arsenal, Brighton, and Manchester United, while Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea have to accept the biggest losses. Despite massive upgrades for winter transfers such as Enzo Fernández and Mykhaylo Mudryk, the bottom line for the Blues is a minus as several players, including Kai Havertz (-€10m) were downgraded.

Manchester United have been engulfed by problems this season but they return to English Premier League action this weekend against Everton as the in-form team across the last five games. Erik ten Hag has been heavily scrutinised this season but United are just five points off the top four and seven points from leaders Manchester City. Context, however, is important as the Old Trafford side faced three of the league’s bottom six sides - Fulham, Luton Town and Sheffield United - as they racked up four wins from their last five to head into the international break. An ominous fixture list awaits United in December in the league and they also risk being knocked out of the Champions League, but an easing of their injury crisis in defence should provide slight optimism.

Orange County SC are one of the biggest exporters of players from North America to Europe. Over the last ten years, Orange County SC has moved 29 players to Europe, more than any other USL Championship side. When you take just the last three years, Orange County are first in North America, together with the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire. Notable Orange County alumni include Milan Iloski (headed to Nordsjaelland), Korede Osundina (sold to Feyenoord), and Kobi Henry (sold to Stade Reims). The next potential export could be wonderkid Bryce Jamison.