The amount is £36 million. That’s what Manchester United paid to prise out Anthony Martial from Monaco on a deadline day transfer. With add-ons and bonuses, they eventually have to pay a staggering £57.6 million to the French Ligue 1 club.
Martial who? That was precisely what Wayne Rooney asked Morgan Schneiderlin on their return flight home from Swansea last Sunday. “Wayne Rooney came to speak to me and asked me who Martial was because the English press had started to speak,” Schneiderlin revealed.
“I told him he’s a great player with great potential, who has played some good matches with Monaco last season and the beginning of this. I told him he’s technical and powerful. A little like Thierry Henry even if it’s the press who are making that comparison.”
United’s lack of striking firepower was exposed during their 2-1 loss to Swansea City. Louis van Gaal was outwitted by his managerial counterpart Garry Monk. The Dutchman, however, insisted there would be no panic buy despite the fact that Marouane Fellaini came as a makeshift centre forward in the last quarter. Van Gaal eventually gave in to the pressure. He had to, for United were in desperate need of a striker who could make a difference. But why fork out so much money for someone without a proven pedigree?
Martial is a 19-year-old France U-21 striker who had joined Monaco for £3.5 million in 2013. He scored 11 goals from 42 appearances last season, pretty average, to say the least. A comparison with the Arsenal great Henry is extremely premature. Martial’s big-money move bordered on the ‘kamikaze’ spending, which Sir Alex Ferguson’s United might have never approved.
In 2012, a teenage prodigy answering to the name of Lucas Moura had drawn Sir Alex’s attention. He wanted to sign the Brazilian midfielder from Sao Paulo but was asked to pay £35 million (45 million euros). The legendary manager instantly called off the deal. Paris Saint-Germain met the asking price and landed the teenager. Sir Alex was furious. “I find it quite amazing that a club can pay 45 million euros for a 19-year-old boy. When somebody’s paying 45 million euros for a 19-year-old boy, you’ve to say the game’s gone mad,” he said. Sir Alex is a director now and it would be interesting to see how he reacts to the Martial deal.
Van Gaal and Ed Woodward’s (executive vice-chairman) United have changed for the worse, both football and philosophy-wise, much to the chagrin of their millions of fans. “United, kids, wife—in that order”, read a banner at Old Trafford in the 1990s. It was a period when Sir Alex had been bringing in the ‘Class of 92’ to the first team fold. His United believed in giving the home-growns a chance; those who had honed their skills at the Cliff and later at Carrington. Van Gaal’s United have already shipped out five academy graduates in a little over 12 months. The talented James Wilson has been made a peripheral figure. The new manager has spent £252.7 million on 12 new signings instead. Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Angel di Maria, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Radamel Falcao (on loan) were added to the squad in his first season. Memphis Depay, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Matteo Darmian, Sergio Romero (free transfer), Schneiderlin and Martial have been signed up this term. But the squad still lacks balance. United still don’t have a commanding centre-half in Nemanja Vidic’s mould. They’re still bereft of a game-changer upfront. Make no mistake, this team won’t win the League. A second-place finish is the best they can hope for and that, too, if Chelsea don’t recover from their early-season blushes. As for the Champions League proper, given a relatively easy ride in the group stage, United should reach the knockouts. After that, they don’t stand a chance.
Van Gaal is a good coach. His success at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich attests that. But there has always been a question mark over his man management skills. From Hristo Stoichkov to Franck Ribery via Rivaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mark van Bommel, he had ruffled many a big feather. He’s the reason why Di Maria, a British record signing last year, had to depart after just one season. Victor Valdes has become the latest casualty. As per Van Gaal, Valdes had refused to play for the reserves. The latter, however, has refuted the allegation. The bottomline is that the Spanish ‘keeper has been made a persona non grata at the club. The three-time Champions League-winner has been left out of United’s Champions League squad. This is not the way you treat a big player.
David De Gea’s transfer saga was a ‘joke’, as Peter Schmeichel put it. The move to Real Madrid fell through on the deadline day and the two clubs are now involved in low-grade mud-slinging. But the situation shouldn’t have come to this. In 2003, Sir Alex had brought in a certain Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal for £12.2 million. Six years later, when the player joined Real Madrid for £80 million, the deal was done in June.
Former England international Martin Keown has rightly questioned De Gea’s omission in the first six matches of the new season. “The David De Gea saga was farcical, but if no offers had been made by Real Madrid until deadline day, then he should have been playing. Banishing him to the reserves will have done nothing to encourage him to stay,” he wrote in his Daily Mail column. Things at Old Trafford appear to be very un-United like at the moment and it’s a huge disappointment.
United are a commercial behemoth and Woodward’s business acumen is a major reason for that. But he doesn’t have the skill of his predecessor David Gill as far as the football market is concerned. Woodward rather revels in show business. Naming Neymar and Gareth Bale as possible alternatives for Pedro was a ploy to divert attention after Chelsea had hijacked the bid for the Barcelona attacker. United used to dictate terms in English football. They’ve lost their bragging rights. Martial’s signing is basically damage control. The Woodward-Van Gaal combine had to save face.
But it’s a huge gamble. “I actually don’t know because he’s only played 52 games. It’s a weird one for me to say. It’s a massive gamble that you need to take nowadays because of the situation Man United have,” Henry said.
Sir Alex and Gill’s United had set the benchmark in the Premier League. The club is fast losing its soul under Van Gaal and Woodward. The season ticket holders, who must cough up £950 to watch their favourite team in action, are entitled to raise a few questions.
PS: Had to borrow the header from Mihir Bose’s wonderful book, for nothing else would have summed up United’s plight better.
