Man Utd have shifted their approach to recruitment over the past 18 months and there is now something transfer targets need to take into account.
One of the attractions for Manchester United when signing Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford last summer was just how clear he had made it that he wanted to come to Old Trafford.
Fresh off the back of a 20-goal season in the Premier League for the Bees, the Cameroon international had options, including a reunion with boss Thomas Frank at Tottenham. That also offered an immediate avenue into the Champions League.
But Mbeumo only had eyes for United, and he made that clear throughout the process. In the end, a deal for an initial £65million, with £6million in add-ons, was secured in the third week of July.
That is a lesson that the transfer targets United are eyeing up in this window would do well to heed. United place considerable weight on just how keen players are to sign for them and that has been evidenced again with the decision to step away from the pursuit of Elliot Anderson.
The 23-year-old’s priority is to join Manchester City this summer, but United could have complicated matters. Had they outbid City and done a deal with Forest, Anderson could have easily ended up at Old Trafford, just as Harry Maguire, Fred and Alexis Sanchez did.
Instead, United’s recruitment chiefs baulked at the idea of paying more than £120million for a player who wasn’t all-in on joining the club. As City raised the stakes, United’s director of football Jason Wilcox and the people in charge of transfers at Old Trafford stepped back.
Instead, they will look at targets below Anderson on the list, but crucially, some or all of those players have made it clear they want to come to Old Trafford. That is certainly the case for Carlos Baleba, who wanted to leave Brighton for United last summer.
Mateus Fernandes has also given the impression that he would like to link up with his idol and namesake, Bruno, at Old Trafford. The 21-year-old West Ham midfielder now slots in at the top of United’s options in midfield.
This is another welcome change in United’s recruitment. For too long it has been back of the fag packet stuff, with little joined-up thinking in why players were being pursued and little to no discipline when it comes to fees and wages.
That is changing under Ineos. The football executives blundered with Ruben Amorim, but transfer business last summer was excellent and the £35million deal for Ederson looks a bargain compared to some of the fees being quoted for other midfielders this year.
It’s easy to imagine the United of a few years ago pushing hard for Anderson and trying to make a statement against City. Instead, this version of the club have followed Omar Berrada’s instructions to be “really disciplined”.
United wanted Anderson to be the man to step into Casemiro’s shoes next to Kobbie Mainoo. He looks like an excellent player and a good fit in that midfield, but there are other options there, and it might be they can sign two midfielders for a little more than the Forest man would have cost on his own.
This is clearly the right decision from United, and another sign that the approach to transfers within Old Trafford is beginning to change.
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