During this summer transfer window United went out with the ambition of landing Leighton Baines from Everton, Ander Herrera from Bilbao and Thiago and Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. The window slammed shut on Monday night and United had signed... NONE of these. Instead they landed third choice midfield option Marouane Fellaini at the last minute on Deadline Day for a heavily inflated price. In addition to this, they failed with a late and audacious bid for Real Madrid left back Fabio Coentrao. The Herrera deal was the most interesting story of Deadline Day and as the story developed it became more and more obvious that something wasn't right. It was taking too long to iron out formalities.
After United had met the release clause in Herrera's contract, believed to be 36 million Euros, it appeared that they followed due procedure and sent a team of lawyers to represent the club and iron out the details. It later became apparent, around an hour before the deadline, that these men were not in fact representing the club at all. It became clear that neither party were aware who the three men were, this also applied to La Liga, whom too had no knowledge of the men's affiliation. Were they con-men? Were they lawyers who spotted a money-making opportunity? This much is unclear but what is clear is the damage this has done to United's reputation. Mainly it has shown the ineptitude of Woodward in conducting transfer business. How can a club not know three men are pretending to represent them during their most important piece of business of the season so far? He certainly has a lot to answer for.
Fellaini is presented as a Manchester United player late on Monday night.
It is undoubted that Fellaini is a good Premier League player. He has played well over 100 games for Everton with a good scoring record for a player in his position. He also plays international football for one of the brightest nations in world football and commands a regular starting place. Despite this, is he a Manchester United quality player? Some would certainly argue not. For £27m, he represents a huge outlay for any club. The fact that United could have paid £4m less just 6 weeks previous shows just how out of touch the club were during the whole summer.
Under the control of Ferguson and Gill, Manchester United would never publicly announce their interest in any player as they were aware of the potential consequences. If a club knows you are desperate to land a player, the price is hiked up. It's simple business. Despite this, David Moyes stated in public his intention to sign Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. He had his initial bid rejected and subsequently announced a second bid had been submitted to the Catalans. Any player in the world would find Manchester United a hard proposition to refuse. Barcelona are Fabregas' home town club but United are the biggest club in the world. A discreet approach to Barcelona with a bid that wouldn't be considered 'insulting' to the Spanish giants, would have landed their number one target. Instead they were again made to look like fools. Not a good state for a business as large as United to fall into.
United remain one of the biggest clubs in the world and with the exception of around 10 players, anyone would consider any approach to come and play at Old Trafford. Under David Moyes this status has to be considered. Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager of all time, David Moyes has never managed a club in Europe. There is huge difference in reputation and apparent talent between the two Scotsmen. Would Cristiano Ronaldo come and play for a manager with no Champions League experience? Honestly it would seem strange. Despite the fact United's title rivals have all strengthened, United will still be a huge player both on the domestic and international scene. They have a championship winning squad, a title they won at a canter, and the addition of Fellaini certainly improves the depth of the squad, if not necessarily the starting XI. It will be a telling season for Moyes and United. He is following in the footsteps of the greatest manager of all time. He has maybe lost ground in the transfer market. Can he keep control of the dressing room and maintain United's status as a world powerhouse? Only time will tell.
