Anthony Elanga looks up for the challenge to prove himself all over again

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Anthony Elanga was Manchester United’s breakout star of 2022. The youngster established himself as a first team regular, scoring goals and providing assists.

These included goals away at Leeds and Atletico Madrid, and he created goals for both Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes to score too.

It certainly wasn’t easy for the 20-year-old. The goals dried up as the season went on, and tasked with playing a key role in an under-performing team, his own performance levels dipped in the final month.

But this should not take away from Elanga’s achievements, where he established himself as a first team regular, and also went on to make his Sweden international debut and score his first goal for his country.

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Elanga looks up for the challenge

Elanga is not resting on his laurels. He will have learned last season, just how hard first team football is, and so he has been working relentlessly over the summer to put himself in the best possible physical shape.

A video released by Elanga’s trainers show how he has been pushing himself over the summer, in the gym and with football drills on the training pitches.

Elanga ended last season as an automatic starter for United, ahead of Marcus Rashford.

Rashford himself has been working hard behind the scenes, pushing himself in a similar manner, in a bid to get his Manchester United career back on track.

But Elanga is not ready to just slink into the background either. He is clearly looking to re-establish himself and come back a stronger player.

New manager Erik ten Hag‘s input should be key. One of the reasons interim boss Ralf Rangnick liked Elanga so much was because the forward really listened to instructions and worked hard on and off the ball.

Ten Hag and his coaching staff will no doubt value Elanga’s attributes in a similar way, and help turn him into a more consistent player.

Elanga has shown he has some quality, but United fans are yet to believe he should be a regular starter, and not just a squad player. It’s up to him to prove otherwise.

The good news is Elanga is up for the challenge, and we will see if Ten Hag can mould him into becoming a more dangerous version of the player who broke into the first team last season.