Manchester United should sign Omar Abdulrahman

Pursue the biggest fish in the pond, offer an obscene amount of money, and hope they come to Old Trafford. Rinse, lather, and repeat.

This seems to be the m.o. of every Manchester United offseason plan in recent years. Although it provides for plenty of interesting speculation it has not really worked. It is a formula that every major soccer power uses but it seems as if even among their peers United fall short.

While that may sound like a knock against United, it is mostly an acknowledgement from someone who used to appreciate the club that they now lack a bit of imagination. Whereas as it seemed in the past that the club would either bring up a player from their youth academy with a unique background and set of skills or find a diamond in the rough the club just doesn’t have the magic that it once had.

Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial aside it feels like Manchester United are more interested in the likes of Memphis Depay or Daley Blind, can’t miss “superstars”‘ who don’t really bring much to the table.

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So how can United regain that bit of imagination, that outside the box thinking that brought them previous glory? Bringing in a wild card like Mourinho, someone who has no trouble trampling on egos, helps. But management need to think outside the box and find a player that can bring something new, something fresh to the team and the Premier League. That is why the club should sign Omar Abdulrahman.

Now, let’s answer this question first: just who the heck is Omar Abdulrahman? Not exactly a household name in Europe, Abdulrahman has quietly developed the reputation as one of the top players in world football. In April of this year FourFourTwo magazine named him as the fourth-best Asian footballer in the world. Considering that he outranked Keisuke Honda and Yoshinori Muto (whom United had already expressed an interest in) that should give everyone an indication of how highly he is regarded.

What makes Abdulrahman such a talent is his left foot. Left footed midfielders that can serve as playmakers in football and use it effectively are a rare commodity. With his club Al-Ain and with the United Arab Emirates national team Abdulrahman has shown an ability to make the little passes that can spark attacks and can create space in tight corners. He may not score that many goals but he has shown that he can make his teammates better and provide for them goal-scoring opportunities.

There is also the superstar factor. In the Middle East, Abdulrahman is on par with any European football player in terms of importance. In April of this year the Arab Business Times listed him as one of the “100 Most Powerful Arabs Under the Age of 40.” His sponsorship deals with Konami and Nike show that he is very marketable. For a club like Manchester United, who are always looking to build their market globally, that is a very desired characteristic.

He also seems willing to move abroad. United supporters will recall that he did have a two-week trial with Manchester City that was not successful due to a work permit issue. The problem at the time was twofold. First, that the UAE was not listed in the top 70 of FIFA’s World Rankings (a requirement by the British Home Office to secure a work permit). Second, due to a knee injury, he had not played in 75 percent of the UAE’s international matches over the past two years.

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Both of those situations have changed. In part due to the efforts of Abdulrahman the UAE have risen to number 74 in the world rankings. The UAE placed third at last year’s Asian Cup, will be in the final round AFC World Cup Qualifying, and will be participating at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Abdulrahman has also appeared in over 75 percent of the UAE’s recent matches thus securing that position. A little bit of effort and a work permit should not be an issue for him. Plus, given that City had a courtship with him wouldn’t it be nice to one-up the local rivals once again.

With Mourinho manning the helm Manchester United are certainly trying to go in a new direction. If they are to break away from their recent troubles they should go back to something that they used to excel at: think outside the box. Signing Omar Abdulrahman would certainly be a step in that direction.

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