Rio Ferdinand has explained why he’s happy that Paulo Dybala’s touted move to Man Utd this summer ultimately failed to materialise.
As noted by BBC Sport, the Red Devils were in talks over signing the 25-year-old, but it’s reported that there were doubts over the Argentine playmaker’s desire to move to Old Trafford which in turn led to any potential switch collapsing.
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If that was indeed the case, then United may well have made the appropriate decision to drop their interest as despite the talent and quality that Dybala possesses, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will only want players in the squad who are itching to get the club back to the top.
That’s Ferdinand’s argument, as while he would surely have loved to see a player like Dybala light up Old Trafford, if the attitude wasn’t right, he has revealed he’s happy that the move didn’t go through.
“A lot of players have declined coming to Man Utd in recent years. They’ve chosen somewhere else,” he told the Daily Star. “But I don’t know how Dybala had the audacity to turn them down when he’s on the bench at Juventus. He needs to start playing some football.
“Maybe he’s thinking: ‘I want to be Champions League or I’ll sit on the bench. I’d rather do that than play at Man Utd.’
“Well, I’m happy he didn’t come, then because you haven’t got the right minerals that I want in a Man Utd player!
“I want someone who wants to come and thinks: ‘Man Utd need to get back to being a top team, I want to be the catalyst’. That’s the type of person you want to come through the door.”
It’s difficult to disagree with that assessment, as Solskjaer appears to have got it spot on with his summer recruitment despite it perhaps not being enough to get them back competing for major trophies in the more immediate future.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire and Daniel James are all homegrown, young players with the hunger and desire to prove themselves at the highest level.
Dybala would certainly have added real class and a different dynamic to the Man Utd attack with his technical quality and creativity, but if a player needs to be convinced over a move to a club of United’s size and prestige, that surely is an early warning sign that they shouldn’t be considered at all.
