Manchester United midfielder Vilde Boe Risa has admitted she is considering leaving the club due to a lack of playing time, which is threatening her prospects with the Norway national team ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
Boe Risa joined United in July 2021, and had been a transfer target during Casey Stoney’s tenure. But by the time a deal was eventually arranged, Stoney had resigned and the club was in the process of appointing Marc Skinner, who has since implemented a different playing style. The midfielder subsequently saw limited minutes during her debut season in Manchester.
The issue of a lack of playing time has persisted this term, despite the summer departure of fellow midfielder Jackie Groenen to Paris Saint-Germain, and she has seen just 47 minutes of WSL action this season.
“[Game time] is something Hege [Riise] is quite keen on and something I’ve had too little of at the club,” Boe Risa has told Norwegian media outlet NTB.
“I feel that I am really driven in training and such and hope for more playing time eventually. I have to be patient a little longer before I think about what the future holds.”
Asked whether she could move on from United, the club she supported as a child, the player admitted: “It is certainly something I constantly consider whether it might be relevant. And then I’m under contract. I think United will probably be a bit difficult, because they want to have me as a player at the club. The coach wants to use me. It’s really just that he hasn’t used me enough.”
Boe Risa was previously dropped by Norway manager Hege Riise for the September international break. She admitted the snub stung at the time, and added that it had been suggested to her by the national team coach that she might need to rethink her club career to warrant a place in the squad.
The 28-year-old, who previously won a Swedish league title with Kopparbergs/Goteborg, was also initially left out of the October squad but was later recalled when other players withdrew injured.
Skinner has previously praised Boe Risa’s ability on the ball, which has seen her show flashes in a United shirt of what she is capable of, while suggesting that the defensive side of her game is what is responsible for her lack of first team opportunities.
“Vilde has an unbelievable brain and vision. What I’ve asked her to do, and what I asked last season, was for her to have time to adapt to this league. We’ve looked at defensive body position on the training field, how she defends the game as well as attacks the game,” Skinner explained.
“We know what she has with the ball and she has the brains without the ball…she now just has to practice and keep practicing. With Vilde, once she snaps this defensive control into place, she obviously has the talent to unlock any defence [in an attacking sense].”
Boe Risa is due to be out of contract at United at the end of the season, but the club holds an option to extend that deal by another year that would prevent her becoming a free agent until 2024.
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Credit: 90min.com
