Wayne Rooney has named three signings United made pre-INEOS, amounting to £164m, that have cost the club years of progress.
Manchester United’s summer signings have all been relatively successful, with standout players Bryan Mbeumbo and Matheus Cunha making the greatest impact in Ruben Amorim’s side. Sitting in joint fourth, the Red Devils will be happy that the business they completed is having a positive effect.
Amorim’s side has made progress since last season, which will please the Portuguese coach; his signings have bolstered the attacking options for the Red Devils, and the signing of the young Belgian shot-stopper Senne Lammens looks like a great signing in the long term.
INEOS’ transfer policy since last summer seems to be mostly positive, bringing a mix of proven talent and young prospects to Old Trafford. It is a strategy that will allow existing talent to grow whilst ensuring the side has the quality and depth to compete for European places with the best teams in the Premier League.
However, it doesn’t take many signings to ‘flop’ to unravel all the work put in place. Ed Woodward oversaw football operations from 2012-2021 and came under deserved criticism for his transfer policy. United legend Wayne Rooney recently revealed that three signings have set United back years because of this poor strategy.
Wayne Rooney names three costly signings
Legendary United striker Wayne Rooney saw firsthand some of the behind-the-scenes decisions that led to United’s steady decline post-Sir Alex Ferguson. Speaking on the Overlap, Rooney said: “The recruitment at Manchester United before last summer was horrendous.
“They were just bringing big names in – you look at Lukaku, Zlatan, Pogba – they’re good players but they were just bringing names in and spending enormous amounts of money. It’s going to take a bit of time to get over those mistakes.”
Wayne Rooney calls out the trio, two of whom – Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – were his teammates during the latter stages of his career at Old Trafford. However, now that the team seems to be gelling under Amorim’s system, Rooney believes United could look to aim higher.
“If you look at Manchester United over the last ten years, the players have been absolutely battered,” the club legend continued.
“Now they’ve got a couple of results and you can see a bit of confidence coming back. You can even say that in the manager. They’re gradually getting better, there’s definitely been some improvement.
“There’s some promising signs and although they’re not going to win the league they could possibly sneak into the top-four.”
Less could be more for United in January
It has been reported that United will not be making any reactive purchases in the upcoming January transfer window. The upcoming AFCON will see Amad, Noussair Mazraoui and Bryan Mbeumo all represent their nations and be absent from Amorim’s first team squad.
However, United’s current transfer stance is a sensible one due to the momentum that has been built by the current group of players. Amorim’s summer signings have worked well, and the upcoming absences may allow other players who have picked up fewer minutes to find a place in the squad.
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Choosing to introduce new players to the group could hurt the sides’ familiarity with each other, and leave Amorim having to try and shoehorn players into the squad that he has not had any time with previously. It is clear from what fans have seen so far that players may need time to adapt to Amorim’s system, and bringing in rushed signings could do more harm than good.
Unless there is a significant injury crisis, making these signings could harm the squad’s cohesion and throw off the team’s built-up momentum. It has been the case in the past that new signings brought to Old Trafford do not always have the positive effect that is desired. The conservative nature of INEOS’ transfer policy could be sensible.
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