Ligt’s out for Ole
December-March: Solskjaer turns it around May: United blow chance of a top-4 place
DUTCH sensation Matthijs de Ligt has rejected a move to Manchester United worth a staggering £60million.
The Red Devils were desperate to land the Ajax and Holland defender this summer ahead of rivals Barcelona and Liverpool.
Old Trafford bosses were willing to hand 19-year-old De Ligt a five-year deal worth £250,000 a week, making him the highestpaid teenager in world
JUAN MATA got it right with his blog the day after a draw at already relegated Huddersfield consigned Manchester United to the Europa League.
“You deserve better,” wrote Mata. “No more words needed.” United fans do, indeed, deserve better, but the question now is whether the club can – or are willing to – deliver on that sentiment.
Sunday’s shambolic 1-1 draw against a club that had been relegated since March represented a new low for United.
The euphoria oria among fans who o saw their team m pick up 32 points from 36 following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s - arrival in December has been replaced by harsh realism.
Eight points from 24 in their subsequent eight games sums up their regression in the past two months, which has them pretty much back to where they were when David Moyes was sacked in 2014.
After an outlay of nearly £700million on players in the six years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired having delivered the club’s 20th league title, United remain mired in turmoil and are now facing a season of Thursday nights in the Europa League.
This season has been so poor that United could end the campaign more than 30 points off top spot, the title further out of reach than ever.
Solskjaer (right) clearly has a difficult rebuilding job at a club that spent £52m on midfielder Fred, an unmitigated flop who cost more than City trio Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane.
That deal sums up the lack of clear thinking and experience at the top at United, which has allowed the club to drift to a position where they are now closer to mid- table clubs like Wolves, Watford, Everton and Leicester than to their traditional rivals Liverpool and City.
Solskjaer, frank about the task ahead, said: “Next season we need to start to rebuild and of course it will be a season without Champions p League football for u us.
“That’s a challenge l in itself, p l ay i ng on Thursdays. We’ll see how we cope with w that. It’s a big bi summer.” The Th worry for United fans is that the club’s hierarchy, led by Ed Woodward (above), seem more concerned by profit margins and commercial revenues than delivering on the pitch.
Woodward offered a damning reply when asked if a lack of success on the pitch could impact upon United’s financial results.
“If I answer that just very simply and candidly, p laying performance doesn’t really have a meaningful impact on what we can do on the commercial side of the business,” said Woodward.
With that sentiment from the man running the club, it is no wonder United fans fear a bleak future and a prolonged spell in the wilderness, after two glorious decades of success under Ferguson.