Manchester United reveals transfer 'blind spot'

Garnacho disappointed in defeat to Forest.

The two recent decisions involving Anthony Elanga and Alejandro Garnacho are clear evidence of a failure in the way talent is assessed and valued, which became even more evident after Manchester United's 0-1 loss to Nottingham Forest in the 30th round of the Premier League early on April 2.

The problem with player sales

Manchester United have always faced criticism for their transfer business. Poor performance in signing players after the Sir Alex Ferguson era has become a familiar story, but it is worth noting that the club has had even more difficulty selling players.

A clear demonstration of Manchester United's ineffectiveness in selling players is that they have never made more than £100m from selling players in a season, while other big clubs like Liverpool have done this in just one season.

Successful player acquisitions are a big issue for Manchester United, but equally important is the ability to sell valuable assets. The club has owned high-value players such as David Beckham, Romelu Lukaku and Angel Di Maria, but has not been able to make the expected profits.

Even the sale of Beckham to Real Madrid in 2003 remains the most expensive deal in the club's history, and currently, the sales of Di Maria or Lukaku have not fetched a higher price than the amount Manchester United spent to recruit them.

This summer, although they have not completely corrected their mistakes in the transfer market, Manchester United have made a small but quite positive step in the right direction, earning a total of £92 million from the sales of players such as Mason Greenwood, Willy Kambwala, Alvaro Fernandez, Donny van de Beek, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Facundo Pellistri, Will Fish, Hannibal Mejbri and Scott McTominay.

Elanga is a former MU player.

However, one of the more controversial deals of late has been the sale of Anthony Elanga to Nottingham Forest for £15m in the summer of 2023. This is a decision that many have questioned, especially when looking back at Elanga's impressive performances for Manchester United, including the winning goal in the Champions League match against Atletico Madrid just a year earlier.

Selling Elanga to a Premier League rival for such a low price, especially when he still has great development potential, is a real shock to Manchester United fans.

However, it is worth mentioning that after Elanga left, Garnacho, who was valued at £70 million by Manchester United, did not show much in the 2024/25 season. The Argentine player could not find harmony with his teammates and could not take advantage of opportunities in important matches.

In the match against Forest, Garnacho had a disappointing performance, failing to have a shot on target from six attempts, and failing to form a meaningful link-up with full-back Patrick Dorgu. Furthermore, Garnacho was also booked for kicking the ball away after being unnecessarily flagged offside.

Mistake after mistake

Mistakes in player valuations are one of the main reasons why Manchester United are struggling to rebuild their squad. Selling Elanga for £15m when a player like Garnacho is valued at £70m shows the unfairness and irrationality in the way players are valued.

If big clubs like Liverpool can easily price a player at a high fee, Manchester United's decision to only get £15 million for Elanga is truly a regrettable decision.

Selling Elanga for a cheap price was a mistake by MU.

In fact, Elanga’s ability to play on the counter-attack, notably when he scored against Atletico, suggests that he could be a valuable asset for Manchester United. However, while Ten Hag prioritised Garnacho’s development, Elanga was sold to balance the books, with the financial pressure from other deals, particularly the purchase of Antony, weighing on the club.

With the transfer mistakes, Manchester United will face many challenges in rebuilding the squad. The club needs to learn from the wrong decisions of the past and change the approach to evaluating and selling players.

Without a significant change in their transfer strategy, building a competitive squad will continue to be a major challenge for Manchester United, with the Old Trafford outfit finding themselves stuck in a vicious cycle, never to regain their brilliance.

Meanwhile, coach Ruben Amorim will face the difficult task of rebuilding the team. He needs a strong squad, not only in terms of skills but also in terms of finances. If the club continues to sell potential players at low prices like they did with Elanga, they will find it difficult to maintain their competitiveness in the future.

Changing their approach to selling and buying players will be crucial for Manchester United to return to the pinnacle of English and European football.

Source: https://znews.vn/manchester-united-lo-diem-mu-chuyen-nhuong-post1542578.html