Man Utd Transfers: The Inquest Begins After A Summer Of Turbulent Transfer Activity
David Moyes did not officially begin his new tenure at Old Trafford until 1 July but there is no doubt that as soon as his move from Everton was confirmed on 9 May he began assessing his squad and plotting which positions required strengthening. Moyes wasn't the only new face in a role of responsibility at the club with David Gill, the long serving Chief Executive, also stepping down this summer to make way for Ed Woodward. Woodward had performed admirably in his previous role as vice chairman, having been credited with improving the club finances considerably, after masterminding a number of sponsorship deals which enabled further expansion of the United global brand.
However, the decision to appoint Woodward was met with caution amongst the fans. He was seen as the 'Glazers' man due to his close connections with the owners of the club and despite his contribution to the club's coffers, he had little experience in the transfer market. This was in stark contrast to Gill. During the Ferguson reign, the manager identified targets and it was Gill who made sure the deals got over the line, helping to bring players such as Van Persie to the club.
In an interview given in the year before he took his new role, Woodward said of Ferguson "The DNA of the club has always been to buy young players and to develop players...But equally he's always taken the view that if a top player comes along that he wants then, once every few years, he'll do it. And he was backed to do that in a wholehearted manner and we'll continue to do that."
That approach was eerily prophetic of the stance Woodward would take 9 months later as United's summer transfer activity descended into farce. Moyes ear marked midfield as the area which needed the most attention, with the likes of Anderson and Cleverley never quite impressing enough to hold down a first team spot for an extended period of time. After Thiago chose to move to Bayern Munich, United wasted little time in chasing an established 'top player' by lodging a bid for Fabregas.
The move caught many by surprise as Fabregas had only returned to his home town club at the end of the 2010/2011 season. It was reported that two bids, one of £25 million and one of £30 million were turned down and with rumours that a record third bid was being prepared Fabregas ended speculation by announcing that he was "very happy at Barcelona." Woodward left United's pre-season tour early to deal with urgent transfer business but it never materialised.
It seemed everyone in football already knew that, but United hadn't been given the script. Barcelona had reluctantly let Thiago leave, they were never likely to allow a player in the same position to exit within the same window. Fabregas may not have played as much as he wanted to last season but with Xavi coming to the end of his illustrious career, he will be eyeing the position soon to be made vacant.
With Plan A and B well and truly out of the window came the realisation that there was little over three weeks left to find that first 'marquee' signing of Moyes' reign. A sensible place to look for talent to improve the first team squad was at the manager's old club, Everton. Bids were hurriedly prepared for two of Moyes' most outstanding players at Everton, Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines. It was reported that a combined £28 m was offered. Everton immediately released a strong statement, and rejected the bids out of hand as "insulting and derisory." Given that Moyes had signed Fellaini for £15m and Baines had shown such improvement in recent seasons, it was inevitable that Everton would hold out for a better deal. By making a combined offer for the pair Woodward once again demonstrated his naivety in the transfer market; the bid did not place specific value on either player, leaving confusion over United's valuation of the pair.
This embarrassment was compounded by the fact that Fellaini had a release clause in his contract which expired on 31 July, believed to be £23.5 million. When United finally did sign Fellaini, on transfer deadline day, they ended up paying a reported £4 million more for him. It is clear that Fellaini had never been Moyes' first choice as the man to replace Scholes and a minimum amount of prior thought from Woodward was all that was required to formulate a contingency plan in case the Thiago/Fabregas deals failed.
Deadline day itself was akin to a mad trolley dash for talent. At this point United had unthinkably signed only one senior player, the full back Guillermo Varela. With Manchester City and Chelsea strengthening heavily, it suddenly dawned on Woodward and Moyes that desperate action was needed. News came through of a reported bid for Athletic Bilbao's Ander Herrera, the young midfielder who had impressed when United met the Spanish side in the Europa League two seasons ago. Ultimately the bids came to nothing with United reported to be unwilling to meet Herrera's buy out clause. Given the protracted move of Javi Martinez to Bayern Munich from Athletic, Woodward should have known that the Basque club were unlikely to settle for anything less than the minimum fee release. Athletic solely recruit Basque players, therefore the chances of the club finding a quality replacement for Herrara were significantly diminished, especially on transfer deadline day. Once again, it seemed United were completely in the dark.
Whilst the Herrara saga took centre stage, there were also reports of bids for a number of Europe's top players, including Sami Kehdira, and Daniele De Rossi. Both are established first team players at their respective clubs, with the latter having confirmed to his manager that he wanted to stay and play for the Roma jersey after an unsettled summer. United seemed to be moving away from the recruitment drive for a creative 'Scholes type' player with Kehdira and De Rossi more defensively minded. The desperation to acquire that 'marquee' signing seemed to begin to override all other criteria.
Possibly the most bizarre move of all was the attempted loan deal for Fabio Coentrao, the Real Madrid fullback. Once Moyes and Woodward realised that Everton would not move on any deal for Leighton Baines, news began to emerge of a last minute bid for Contreao, who had fallen out of favour with Ancelotti at Madrid. With Patrice Evra still making strong appearances for the first team and an optimistic debut season from Alexander Buttner, many fans would argue that left back is not an area which is in dire need of strengthening. Perhaps Moyes thought that Coentrao would combine well with Nani, his Portugese compatriot, who signed a new 5 year contract this week. Regardless of that, the bid failed, reportedly due to Madrid being unable to push through the signature of a replacement.
As the window closed United were left with the solitary purchase of Fellaini. Many United fans were critical, believing his aggressive style is at odds to how United play. However, he is an established Premiership player who has proven that he can attack as well as defend, contributing 11 league goals for Everton last term. He is likely to be used in a more defensive role at United, alongside Carrick, but that holding combination can only benefit United's attack minded players, giving them the freedom to play further up the pitch. Players like Rooney will benefit from playing between the lines of the opposition midfield and defence rather than having to track back into their own penalty area, leaving Van Persie isolated up front
United may not have covered themselves in glory in Moyes' first transfer market, largely due to inexperience at board room level rather than any fault of the manager, but to suggest that they have already lost their title 3 games into the season is ridiculous. It should be remembered that this was the team that strolled to league success by 11 points last season. There has been great upheaval at Old Trafford over the summer but United have not lost any players, despite the Rooney saga, and have strengthened an area of the squad that required attention. It will be interesting to see if Moyes returns for any of the players he missed out on in January or next summer but he will no doubt be thankful, like many managers, that the window has shut and normal service can resume.