Man Utd are making huge changes ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe coming into the club | Football Digest
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is already calling the shots at Manchester United in preparation for his arrival at Old Trafford and one of the areas that requires a major overhaul is the club’s recruitment strategy. Erik ten Hag has spent £400million in 18 months at the club with little improvement made – despite some big names arriving in Mason Mount and Casemiro – and there will be changes made to how the club operates in the transfer market.
Ratcliffe is set to invest over £1.5billion in the club to underline how serious he is taking, with his £1.3bn purchase of a 25 per cent stake followed by £245m to redevelop Old Trafford. Club funds will be used in the transfer market, and caution will be exercised to avoid a repeat of past errors as he looks to make sweeping changes by replacing Richard Arnold and John Murtough.
A perfect example of United’s botched recruitment strategy was the £50million signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka in August 2019. Ole Gunnar-Solskjaer needed a new right-back and plumped for the Crystal Palace academy graduate, but the deal raised more than a few eyebrows – mainly due to how United reached the decision to sign him.
If there was an example of overcomplicating what should be a simple process, this was it. Back in 2019, the Daily Star reported the club had reportedly compiled a mammoth list of 804 players at right-back alone for their chief scout to peruse, before whittling it down to 12 targets. But such a tactic only points towards a club that is entirely unsure of what profile player it needs and it showed with their signing of Wan-Bissaka.
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While it is true the defender had shown promise at Palace, United had overpaid at £50m – and he has done little in his 168 appearances to suggest it was money well spent. The 25-year-old may be a skilled tackler in a one-on-one situation, but creatively he offers little and he hasn’t locked down a regular spot under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Ten Hag for long.
Indeed, even Diogo Dalot’s signing came out of nowhere when Jose Mourinho spent £19m to recruit the Portuguese from Porto. His best football as a United player came during a loan spell with AC Milan and his sporadic involvement in the team since returning has left fans baffled.
It is exactly this sort of scrambled thinking that Ratcliffe will look to eliminate with his team of recruitment experts taking charge of scouting and identifying talent. Of course, every club will sift through data to find the best-matched player for their squad, but there is no chance 804 players will be on their agenda the next time Ten Hag needs a player.
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United have been linked with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, while Inter Milan wing-back Denzel Dumfries is a name that continues to crop up as United could offload Wan-Bissaka in the coming months.
His contract expires in 2024 but he has the option to extend his contract by 12 months, giving United at least some time to arrange a sale. There will be interest from other Premier League clubs, with Palace keen on bringing him back for a second stint, while West Ham have been credited with an interest.
United know there is no chance of getting their £50m back and Dalot signed a new five-year contract only six months ago. When United do sign a new right-back, Ratcliffe’s methods will ensure the same mistakes aren’t made again.
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