SORRY OLE, YOUR PLEDGE ON LOLLY IS PURE FOLLY
ON THE day that Manchester United signed Alexis Sanchez, it looked a great deal. The same with Radamel Falcao.
Everybody happy, everybody very excited. Eric Bailly — he was going to be a monster in the Premier League.
Angel Di Maria would rip defences apart. And nobody stood a chance against a midfield patrolled by Fred.
That’s the problem with the transfer market. It’s not an exact science. So when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer pledges to spend Manchester United’s money wisely this summer, he might be advised to stick to promises he can keep.
Playing the youngsters, playing the Manchester United way, playing with a smile in a manner that best represents the club — these may sound like cliches but they are achievable objectives.
Playing the market — well, that’s different. There is not a Manchester United manager who set out to waste money. Not a manager who did not consider his deals good ideas at the time.
Do you think Jose Mourinho imagined his relationship with Paul Pogba ending up in a stand- off? Did Louis van Gaal ever consider he wouldn’t get the best from Memphis Depay?
When Sanchez arrived at Old Trafford just over a year ago, it looked an incredible coup, a Pep Guardiola player stolen from under his nose. Now, Sanchez seems to be the one man Solskjaer has given up on reviving, his main contribution the obliteration of the wage structure, meaning every new negotiation is subject to an Alexis levy as players demand a semblance of parity with his £ 500,000 weekly wage.
Right there is the treachery of the market. Before several individuals, most particularly Pogba, came good under Solskjaer, United’s transfer dealings were considered to have ended their fixation with marquee names. The likes of Pogba, Sanchez (below) and Fred really had spoiled it for everyone. Solskjaer has insisted from the start that United need not rely on stellar signings; but being frugal does not necessarily equate to wisdom or success, either. Remember Mats Moller Daehli, Jo Inge Berget, Magnus Wolff Eikrem or Cala? Solskjaer surely does. He signed each one in the January window while with Cardiff in 2014. ‘Solskjaer was instrumental in attracting top professionals who have the experience and willpower to make an immediate impact,’ gushed chief executive Simon Lim at the time. What happened next? Cardiff dropped, Solskjaer left and the majority of his signings were gone by the following January. He brought in seven players and only Fabio and Kenwyne Jones spent a full season with the club. When a Welsh publication listed the worst 25 signings in Cardiff’s history, Solskjaer accounted for 12 per cent of them — not bad for a manager who was in charge for 30 games. Tonight Solskjaer will experience his second match as United’s permanent manager at the home of a club that have played the market like a Stradivarius these past two seasons. Wolves have got it right, largely by forging a relationship with an influential agent working closely with the coach.
Solskjaer, by contrast, has Ed Woodward, a man widely mocked as the least competent negotiator in the country, until David Davis took charge of Brexit.
In Woodward’s defence, had Fred or Sanchez lived up to their billing — or price — Woodward would have been hailed as the mastermind who spirited them away from Manchester City, against the odds.
Instead he is picking up the tab for the world’s costliest reserves. Woodward’s heart must have leapt when Solskjaer promised to relieve him of that responsibility.
Yet promises, promises. Solskjaer may have conducted a winning charm offensive to go with his impressive results, but he cannot guarantee his buys will fly, too. No manager can, not even Sir Alex Ferguson.
How many goalkeepers before he alighted on Edwin van der Sar? The lesson from history is plain. Win the trophies and they’ll let you write off a few. Maybe not as many as Solskjaer had at Cardiff, but nobody’s perfect.