Yesterday, Manchester United officially unveiled their two deadline day signings to the world’s media. The signings of Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao, took Manchester United’s summer spending to over £150 million for the summer. It appeared Ed Woodward had overcome the constant abuse and criticism that dogged the earlier summer months, but did he really get the job done?
After three premier league games Manchester United, have only managed two draws and a selection of lacklustre displays at best, it was evident that signings were needed, and sign they did. Having brought in six players, Manchester United should have formed a coherent squad ready to challenge to fight at the top, but it appears they have fallen short of this and it’s difficult to comprehend.
On one hand Ed Woodward has made a fantastic effort to bring two of the world’s best players to Old Trafford, convincing them to leave their respective successful teams and depart from champions league football, in order to play for the Red Devils, the same team that recently suffered a 4-0 defeat to league one side, MK Dons. In Falcao and Di Maria, Manchester United have signed two incredible talents that can only improve the club. Di Maria will bring the creativity that has been sorely lacking and provide assists, as well as bringing some quality back to the wings, not seen since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. Falcao is also a proven striker who is clinical and guaranteed to get goals, another aspect failing United this year. When played in tandem together Falcao and Di Maria will be deadly.
The capture of Daley Blind for the relatively low price of £13.8 million should prove to be a great addition, able to play centre back, wing back or defensive midfielder, Blind can become a crucial part of the Manchester United set up. He also brings some experience of the 3-5-2 formation, which could be vital if Louis van Gaal opts to move forward with his favoured formation.
However, the simple fact is that Manchester United have not improved in their most vulnerable area; defence. From what we’ve seen from United’s defence so far this season, not a single player looks capable of playing first team football, it has been a montage of comical errors, weak play and poor back passes. As the defence stands right now, United will seemingly struggle all season, and this begs the question, why was nothing done? A lot of the speculation points to the fact that it seams no real effort was made to sign a world class centre back. A position that Manchester United are so blatantly lacking any quality in, would’ve been saved by a player who could walk in to the team and command from the back. In my opinion, Ed Woodward has, at best, signed squad players who sorely lack experience in defence. A lot of young players who don’t come near to replacing the experience and reliability of Ferdinand and Vidic.
The other issue with Ed Woodward’s transfer negotiations, is the gross over payment for some players. In a year where quality players were available for the right price, it appeared Ed Woodward opted to go for much more expensive and less proven options. The fact that Manchester United signed Luke Shaw for £30 million and Ander Herrera for £29 million is appalling, considering Mehdi Benatia signed for Bayern Munich for £20 million and Toni Kroos joined Real Madrid for £24 million in the same transfer window. The money saved could’ve gone towards the £5 million United were supposedly short of Juventus’ valuation of Arturo Vidal. Signing those players would have arguably left Manchester United a lot better off.
When thinking about how Ed Woodward has handled this summer it is an interesting situation. The fact he secured the signatures of Falcao and Di Maria are great achievements however, they fail to hide or reveal the fact that Manchester United grossly over payed in unproven players and failed to bring in the quality that was perhaps needed for the Red Devils to become contenders once more.
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