Micah Richards and Gary Lineker both in full agreement over ‘outstanding’ former Man Utd ace, his ‘energy’ impressed

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Gary Lineker and Micah Richards were both on the same wavelength over what they recently saw from former Manchester United star Aaron Wan-Bissaka at West Ham.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka left Old Trafford last summer and completed his move to West Ham after he was deemed surplus to requirements under Erik ten Hag.

The 27-year-old full-back had been at Manchester United since 2019, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer bringing him to the Red Devils from Crystal Palace in a £50m deal.

Wan-Bissaka had been Solskjaer’s preferred pick ahead of Diogo Dalot before the former United manager was axed by the Premier League club in 2021.

Erik ten Hag, on the other hand, opted to have Diogo Dalot as his first-choice right-back ahead of Wan-Bissaka and the Portugal full-back impressed last season.

Wan-Bissaka made 30 appearances for United in his final season before the former Crystal Palace star returned to London with his current club.

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Richards and Lineker react to Wan-Bissaka

Aaron Wan-Bissaka made 190 appearances for the Red Devils and the former Manchester United defender lifted the Carabao Cup during his time at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag’s desire to bring former Ajax and Bayern Munich star Noussair Mazraoui to the Red Devils last summer all but certainly sealed Wan-Bissaka’s fate at United.

Wan-Bissaka inked a seven-year contract with Premier League side West Ham and the Hammers signed the former United star in a £15m deal.

The West Ham full-back has made 24 appearances across all competitions for the London club in the 2024-25 campaign and Wan-Bissaka has netted twice for his side.

Wan-Bissaka played the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday and impressed both Gary Lineker and Micah Richards with his performance.

Lineker said that the ex-United right-back dropped a “brilliant performance,” while Richards insisted it was “brilliant” to see Wan-Bissaka’s “energy” and “work rate.”

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast (via the Metro), Richards said: “I thought Wan-Bissaka was outstanding, I really do.

“His energy, his work rate, his delivery at times, his recovery runs, his tackles – it was just brilliant to see.

“[Tomas] Soucek as well was outstanding, he covers so much ground. When you’re watching the game, you’re looking for someone to do the skill – [Lucas] Paqueta had a really good game.

“But I just thought the energy from Soucek and Wan-Bissaka allowed them to push up and do what they needed to do.”

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Richards on Man Utd after Wan-Bissaka’s performance

Former Manchester City right-back Richards added that West Ham did “very well” from a tactical standpoint after snatching a Premier League point from Villa Park.

“We’ve talked about this so many times – especially with Manchester United – when you go to a five-at-the-back, you can sometimes just stay there and not get out,” he explained.

“But they [West Ham] managed to get out at the right times and the defend at the right times. Tactically they did very, very well.”