Man U

Manchester United: Transfer strategy? What transfer strategy?

By soccersweep

Posted on Aug 25, 2015

Where is it?

There is of course a fair to middling chance that Manchester United’s Ed Woodward will pull a rabbit out of the hat before the end of the window and leave all United fans with a huge smiles on their faces.

But the talent pool for the requisite players is ever dwindling and the chances of a marquee capture now look remote.

And perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, given the track record of Woodward.

Ed Woodward busy concluding top deals

He can only pursue the players that the Manchester United boss asks for.

But we continue to wonder how much actual strategy is involved in these windows, from a Manchester United perspective. Furthermore, how good is Woodward at getting deals over the line in the face of fierce competition for the top players?

Look down the road to Manchester City and things seem far clearer.

We knew at the beginning of the summer that City would try to sign Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and a defender.

While the De Bruyne deal is complicated Manchester City have stuck to their task and still look as if they will get all three of their major summer targets.

As for Manchester United, they have undoubtedly strengthened their defensive areas.

But the main problem from last season still exists – and that is a pedestrian front line which struggles to break teams down.

Memphis looks sharp and will continue to improve.

But Manchester United should have begun the summer by signing forwards and then working backwards.

Because, at the end of the day, it’s forwards who win you games. And it’s top forwards who are the most difficult to acquire. Even now you could go out and buy a top midfielder (William Carvalho or Victor Wanyama for example) or a top defender (Aymeric Laporte). But top forwards are always hard to sign. So surely they should be the priority each summer?

Let’s not over complicate things. The best team in Europe last season (Barca) had the best forward line. The second best team had the second best forward line etc.

As the last week of the window draws to a close Manchester United look as if they have no transfer strategy at all. From the outside looking in it seems like a completely scatter gun approach with average results.

And the idea of signing Neymar at this late stage seems utterly ridiculous.

But if Manchester United start September without a top right wing addition they will spend another season without silverware. Guaranteed.

Manchester United fans: is it time for a new deal closer at the club?