Manchester United's midfield revamp now depends on two players

It is a disconcerting sight for Manchester United when the team is trailing and the manager introduces a player he does not truly want.

Scott McTominay was available for transfer in the summer and United arrogantly rejected a £30million offer for West Ham. What luck for David Moyes. West Ham signed the productive James Ward-Prowse for the same fee and he has already tallied two goals and three assists in four Premier League games.

As for McTominay, he chased Jude Bellingham's shadow at Hampden Park last week and then Tariq Lamptey at Old Trafford. The Scot was the only United player dropped to the bench in Munich, where he was summoned in the 69th minute.

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Eleven minutes later, McTominay was dispossessed by Dayot Upamecano on the edge of the Bayern area. Upamecano sprinted away with the ball into United's own area while McTominay jogged, like an amateur distance runner being lapped by one of the elite.

McTominay was described as a "Man United player through and through" by the idealistic Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an interview published on Wednesday. A month into his permanent tenure as manager, Solskjaer was seething at United's Easter Sunday burial by Everton. He said "no matter how much talent you have got, you run more than anyone".

At the Allianz Arena, McTominay didn't. It was out of character for one of the squad's workhorses and a player whose association with United dates back to when he was five.

The beginning of the end of McTominay has started at United. The club have signed five central midfielders since Erik ten Hag took charge and, prior to the Brighton reverse,