Manchester United have had a successful transfer window so far. Mourinho did highlight that he had asked for 4 signings before the window began, and will exit the window with 4 signings in the bag. While he was frustrated with the operational aspect, as he wanted all the transfers wrapped up before the US tour; he can be happy with the way things stand at the present.
Back in the days of David Moyes, while it was still early days in the office for Ed Woodward, United were linked with almost every player in the transfer market.
Those rumours had United fans dreaming of a defence marshalled by Mats Hummels, playing behind a midfield of Kroos and Fabregas who would provide their killing passes to set up Bale and Lewandowski.
Such were the high hopes from United’s first transfer window post the Sir Alex era.
To be honest, Sir Alex did not leave a competent squad for David Moyes. With most of the players ageing and past their prime, the pressure was on David and Ed to replace the deadwood and bring in fresh faces. But two months of failed negotiations followed, and David Moyes had to settle for the deadline day signing of Marouane Fellaini.
United’s desperation in the transfer market was seen by clubs as a perfect excuse to hike their prices. The summer of 2014 is without a doubt, one of the worst transfer windows in the history of Manchester United. Being linked with countless players and failing to land a single target led to the mockery of the club. It was definitely a sour experience for CEO, Ed Woodward.
Fast forward to today, and United seem to have re-established their superiority in the transfer market. After being linked with Alvaro Morata for most of the window, United shocked the world after having agreed to a deal with Romelu Lukaku; which lead to many pondering about whether Morata was a smokescreen for negotiations with Lukaku. It could go down as one of the most successful transfer coups in recent years.
Manchester United were also linked to Fabinho. The Brazilian CDM was in the form of his life in Monaco’s successful 2016/17 season, and did attract a lot of attention by clubs over the transfer window. While many were expecting United to sign Fabinho, they announced the transfer of Nemanja Matic.
While it may seem that their business in the transfer window is done, after they announced the re-signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it might not be the case. The unpredictability of Manchester United in this transfer window might throw more surprises as we head towards Transfer Deadline Day.
Manchester United have learnt lessons from the humiliation of the 2014 transfer window and have minimized the leakage of transfer news. A step in the right direction for Ed Woodword and Co.
