Manchester United: Wasting time and money with the wrong men in charge
The IndependentSign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Another transfer window has passed and with comfortably over £1bn spent since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement - Angel Di Maria and Memphis Depay forming part of a lengthy list of talents wasted - one has to wonder just how much has to be squandered and just how long the focus can revolve around the cosmetic when there are deeper issues at root. In April, Solskjaer was confident United could “exploit” a coronavirus-affected transfer market due to its status as one of the game’s “biggest and financially well-off” clubs. He spoke about maximising the break in the schedule caused by the global pandemic to “discuss players and discuss plans” in an attempt to ensure they were “the best at everything.” Yet, on deadline day United were still scratching around with zero hopes of solving their greatest concern at the heart of defence, nor getting in Jadon Sancho, a long-held top target. Neither is it one of those transfers like Robin van Persie from Arsenal to United or Thiago from Bayern Munich to Liverpool that screams, to borrow Ferguson’s words, “you can’t turn that down.” At 33, at his wages, with his injury history and the significant agent fees, he is a counterpoint to the cultural reset the club have preached - the kind of deal they swore was in the rearview mirror.