Well. What an eventful transfer deadline day that was for Manchester United. Although eventually slightly disappointing, it was at points looking very promising, however I feel that the end result is not as bad as many are making out.
First of all, we made an attempt to sign Athletic Bilbao central midfielder Ander Herrera. Now I am a huge football fan, watching games and highlights of most big leagues and, to be honest, I’ve not really heard much of Ander Herrera. I’m sure he must be a decent player if David Moyes was willing to splash out £31 million to secure his signature, but does that not show a sign of panic buying from the United boss? There are many more widely acknowledged players in his position available for less. For example, Mesut Ozil would have only been just over £10 million more, for quite a lot more player. Philippe Coutinho moved to Liverpool in January for a far cheaper fee. Ilkay Gundogan would have cost less, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luka Modric and Ricardo Montolivo would have all cost less, yet we decided to try and get a scarcely known midfielder that may or not be a top player. That transfer will remain a mystery to me, especially since we are rumoured to be going back for him in January. The manner of which the deal was conducted was also strange. It all looked set to be completed by our representatives in Spain, when it turned out that we had no representatives in Spain at all as the men claiming to work for us were three complete randomers, trying to gain a bit of money from the deal.
Another midfield player we went in for, more out of hope and desperation than actual expectation was Sami Khedira of Real Madrid. This deal was never going to happen realistically. He is a first choice player at the Bernabeu anyway but his partner, Xabi Alonso, is currently injured making Khedira’s role more important than ever at the heart of the Madrid team. However, a bid of £34million was apparently submitted and then immediately rejected.
Another strange bid was us trying to take another Real Madrid player, Fabio Coentrao, on loan. Being a left-back, Coentrao is not a player we particularly need. Patrice Evra, despite becoming increasingly suspect defensively, is still a solid left back at Premiership level. That was reportedly a done deal, until it fell through the day after the window closed.
The one deal that we did eventually manage to wrap up was the signing of long-term target Marouane Fellaini for a huge fee of £27.5million. This is a transfer that has divided United fans opinions. Many feel that he is not of United class and not the player we need whilst others, like myself, feel he is the answer to our midfield problems. Many were calling out for a creative midfield player when in fact we already have bundles of them at the club. What we needed was a Fellaini type player to bully the opposition. Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa and Wayne Rooney can do all the fancy stuff like passing and dribbling, whilst Fellaini can intimidate and get in the way. The ideal player would have been Yaya Toure though that was never realistically going to happen.
The transfer was again a very strange ordeal, much like the bid for Herrera. Just a month ago Everton would have been obliged to have let Fellaini go for £23.5million due to a buy out clause in his contract. However, we decided to wait a month and pay £4milliom extra, I imagine much to the delight of the Glazer family, our owners. At least we got our man right? At least one of them….
The problem would appear to be quite great in terms of our financial dealings. This summer was something of an embarrassment for us in the market as many top players turned us down in favour of others clubs or their current side. Thiago Alcantara was rumoured to be a done deal, as was Ezequiel Garay, whilst Cesc Fabregas was very publicly made a target along with Leighton Baines. In the end we only got Fellaini and that was likely down his relationship with David Moyes, his former manager at Everton.
The problem? Our executive and manager. Whilst Moyes is undoubtedly a terrific coach, he doesn’t yet command respect in the same manner as Sir Alex. If you heard the voice of Sir Alex Ferguson down the phone, asking you to play for one of his great United sides, there would have been no answer but yes. Top targets were always nailed down, early on in the transfer windows as well. David Moyes however does not hold the great global respect that his predecessor had. Hopefully that will come with time.
Secondly, our old Director of Football, David Gill, had similar powers to Fergie in the transfer market. If he was given a player to sign, we would sign him. Woodward would not appear to have the same ability as Gill in this field. Our transfer failings have largely been blamed on him as opposed to the manager. Maybe that’s right? I am not an insider so I couldn’t say for sure, but I’d suggest it is probably a joint blame that must be placed on both men for our transfer failings. If trophies continue to come in under our new leadership then who knows; the good old times may return and the top players will once again have their heads turned by the prospect of playing for Manchester United.
Despite just the one major coup this summer, I still feel our side will compete to win titles again this year. This is a side that won the league by over ten points last year, so one that does not need dramatic changes. Chelsea and Manchester City look considerably stronger, so the league is going to be much more open this year, but I fully expect us to be there or thereabouts come next May.
Let’s see what the season brings then.
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