- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The second most valuable football brand in the world. The second most valuable football team in the world. The club with the most fans in the world. Manchester United is not just a name.
With close to 660 million fans across the globe, almost one in every ten people walking on the planet is a United follower. The numbers are staggering.
They have the history, the trophies, the status, the revenue, the sponsors, the money and they certainly have the fans.
Then what has gone wrong in this transfer window, with the club having failed to attract top players and being made to look very mediocre?
United won their 20th title in the English top division and their 13th Premier League title last season with a comfortable 11 point margin but that achievement has surprisingly been touted as ‘no great feat’ by players it seems.
It is quite difficult to reason out how the champions of the most popular football league in the world do not represent an attractive proposition to the top players in the world.
Manchester United’s transfer policy this summer has been nothing short of farcical. Snubs by players like Thiago and Cesc Fabregas have done very little to enhance the image of a club that holds its place in the upper echelons of club football in the world.
With the retirement of long serving manager Sir Alex Ferguson, after a 26 year reign at the helm, and with fellow Scotsman David Moyes taking charge, many would have thought the club listed in the New York Stock Exchange would make a statement of intent by making some big signings and reasserting the fact it is no mood to let go of its European superpower image.
A lot was promised but very little was delivered.
Just the fact so many players take pride in revealing they for once turned down the chance to join the Red Devils, Raul and Robert Lewandowski the latest to do so, speaks volumes about United’s stature.
Surely if such is the case then we can certainly find a few top class players at least who would relish the chance to play in front of the United faithful at the Theatre of Dreams every week.
But barring last season’s top scorer Robin Persie, who switched clubs from Arsenal to United last season as he wanted to win more trophies, we have seen very few or rather no top players at all who have been willing to jump ship in order to have the chance to play for United.
So what’s missing?
Money? Certainly not as with sponsorship deals galore and lucrative deals being signed every now and then, United have quite a lot in their coffers and in spite of being so heavily in debt due to the Glazer acquisition, the club have the revenue to back any financial move for a player.
The club generated $502 million during 2011-12 and with the world record shirt sponsorship deal with General Motors coming into effect in 2014, that figure is stated to rise.
United have the money but may be they have been found wanting when it comes to using that money in the best possible manner.
United were ready to pay 30 million for Lucas Moura, who chose Paris Saint Germain instead. So a 30 million bid for Cesc Fabregas certainly does not make any sense as the Spanish International is a proven world class talent, having plied his trade in the English Premier League and La Liga.
More recently, the club had made a double bid for Everton duo Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini, which was dismissed by the Merseyside club as the 26 million offer was considered insulting.
This is quite different from the approach United’s European counterparts follow.
Take Bayern for instance. They wanted Mario Goetze from Dortmund so they made an offer in excess of 35 million Euros and got their man.
Real Madrid wanted Gareth Bale and got him, even if it meant breaking their own transfer record.
Surprisingly, even fellow EPL club Arsenal paid over 40 million pounds to acquire the services of Mesut Ozil.
None of the other top clubs make delusionary bids when it comes to a player they really want to bring in. Being a top club themselves, United should have followed the same approach.
This is where chief executive Ed Woodward has gone wrong.
Woodward returned from the team’s tour of Asia and Australia prematurely, stating “urgent transfer business” as the reason, which gave the fans expectations a marquee signing was on the cards, intended to soften up the loss of their legendary manager and also to address longstanding shortcomings of the squad.
But with the transfer window now done and dusted, United have failed to add any substantial quality to the squad, let alone a marquee signing.
The last minute acquisition of Fellaini can hardly be called a world class acquisition and that too was done by paying 4 million pounds more than what they would have had to pay had they acted a month back to trigger his release clause.
Rejected bids and snubs were the story of the summer, which has left the fans frustrated. United missed out on plenty of players in the Ferguson and David Gill era but they never were so vocal and open when it came to transfer business as Moyes and Woodward have been.
Fergie liked keeping his cards close to his chest and more often than not got the players he really wanted, Van Persie and David de Gea are some examples in recent memory.
Having been so open about their intentions towards wanting to bring in players, Moyes and Woodward should have gone all out and got their signatures on the dotted line, rather than waste time making undervalued offers and letting players slip by.
The fact United did not make a move for Ozil when he was offered to them, two weeks prior to deadline day, baffles.
The appointment of Moyes also might have played a part in players not being that enthusiastic in joining Manchester United anymore.
The top players always like to play for top managers and, without disrespecting David Moyes and what he did at Everton, Moyes lacks the credentials needed to be reckoned as a top manager.
In Sir Alex Ferguson United had somebody who commanded respect from players all over the world and a chance to play for him was far more exciting than it is to play under David Moyes.
You may argue United have always bought potential rather than proven quality but many do not realise one of Ferguson’s greatest strengths was to get the most out of the players he had at his disposal.
But with Fergie retiring and all of United’s rivals strengthening their squads, it was important to bring in quality players to reassure people the transition will not have any effect on the team.
United have their shortcomings on the field and they needed to address that in the best possible manner.
The United Brand is what it is because of the team’s performance on the pitch and the club needs to ensure they continue to have a squad capable of matching up to their European counterparts or it will not be long before they are overtaken both on and off the field.
United will surely look to bring in players in the January transfer window to make up for what can at best be described as shambolic transfer window.
Whether they are top class or not, we will just have to wait to find out.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.