In the first transfer activity undertaken by the new football management department, Man United’s recruitment team believes they have made progress off the pitch following their latest summer overhaul. “I have to say I like the squad,” said sporting director Dan Ashworth.
“I’ve probably done 25 transfer windows, which is quite a long time. I don’t think there’s ever been a point where we’ve said, ‘Oh my God, it’s gone absolutely perfectly, we’ve done everything we wanted to do’. But fundamentally, the target positions we wanted to strengthen, the players we’ve brought in, the depth and options when everyone’s fully fit, I’m happy with that.” Still Dan Ashworth.
Ashworth’s first transfer window at Old Trafford has been a frenetic affair, with 32 deals completed, including a new contract for Bruno Fernandes. “It’s been a key part of the transfer strategy; I can’t say enough about the influence he has had on the other players as captain.”
Man United have spent around £200m on new players, brought in close to £100m from departures, made five big signings, solved other problems with the sales of Scott McTominay and Mason Greenwood, found a solution for Jadon Sancho... everything has shown to be more ruthless than before by getting rid of players who are unlikely to make it to the first team and starting to become better buyers.
They also started the season with a narrow win and then back-to-back defeats, with United slipping to 14th, although manager Erik ten Hag still has the full backing of his side. In the defeat to Liverpool, two of United’s five new signings – Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte – were yet to make their debuts. The others, Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee, both made solitary starts. It is too early to judge the success of their summer deals.
“They were four key positions that we really wanted to strengthen in this transfer window and we have done that,” said Dan Ashworth. “The departures of Anthony Martial, Sofyan Amrabat and Raphael Varane on loan left space for a striker, a holding midfielder and a centre-back.” United decided they wanted two centre-backs. A fifth addition, Noussair Mazraoui, proved better when Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sold to West Ham for £15m. “Aaron had a year left on his contract, there was a chance to go, so we could refresh it and trade that position,” Ashworth explained.
Selling players makes sense. United have struggled to offload players in recent years, with high earners often leaving at the end of their contracts. True, they are paying part of Sancho’s wages while he is on loan at Chelsea. They still have Casemiro’s super-sized wage package.
But they have sold younger players including Willy Kambwala, Alvaro Fernandez, Will Fish, Hannibal Mejbri and Facundo Pellistri. The sell-and-buy clauses give United options and potential profit. “We have tried to put in place certain policies to protect ourselves in the future,” said chief executive Omar Berrada.
United have long been a buying club, but now they must also be a selling club. McTominay's departure has been the most controversial. Ten Hag wants to keep a player who has been with United for 22 years. However, if he wants to refresh the squad, he will have to sell.
At times it has felt like United are trying to make up for past mistakes, putting a difficult task on the new leadership team. Ashworth said: “It’s not about changing people and we don’t want to do that. It’s about making the right decisions over the next few months to maximise our resources and the talent we’ve brought into the team.”
Ashworth likes the current group of players but it begs the question of when United will reach the stage where their squad only needs minor tweaks. United are not short of ambition; it is a matter of making the dream a reality.
HO VIET
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/man-united-nghi-rang-cuoi-cung-ho-da-kiem-soat-duoc-thi-truong-chuyen-nhuong-post757018.html
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