Wan-Bissaka tops European stats chart
Manchester United full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka made the most starts of any player in Europe’s top five leagues in 2020/21.
Our no.29 was selected in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s XI on 54 occasions across all competitions, which is three more than any other player from the clubs in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue Un.
With United playing 61 games in total, that means Wan-Bissaka only missed out on seven stats – a remarkable feat of consistency, especially during a compressed season in which the Reds didn’t have a free midweek until April, barring international breaks.
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Aaron sat out the first game of the term, against Crystal Palace, as he worked on getting back to full fitness after a shortened pre-season, while a minor injury around Christmas ruled him out of meetings with Everton and Leicester City.
He was also rested for the late-season Premier League meetings with the Foxes and Wolves, and for domestic cup games against Watford and Brighton.
Otherwise, our summer 2019 signing from Palace was an ever-present in the starting line-up and enjoyed a largely positive campaign, his second with the Reds.
Aaron netted his first-ever senior goal when the Reds won 4-1 at Newcastle and followed it up with another to kickstart the 9-0 win over Southampton.
He registered six assists too, and racked up a century of appearances for United by starting the Europa League final defeat to Villarreal.
When asked recently if he'd been happy with his performances this season, Wan-Bissaka replied, “Yes, I have. I can feel it in myself, the confidence and the excitement when every game comes up.
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“You want to play, you can’t wait to get the game started. You know what the team’s capable of, the performances we can all put together to get the result we want.
“I still feel alright, I look after myself, knowing that we play every three days.
“No game’s easy, I try to make sure I recover so I’m available for the next game.”
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Wan-Bissaka is joined in the top five for starts made by players from Europe's biggest leagues by two United team-mates.
Alongside Manchester City’s Ruben Dias and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire both made 51 starts.
Reds captain Maguire could have topped the chart himself, had he not been ruled out of the campaign's last five games through injury.