Sometimes it’s so easy to get bogged down in transfers and purely look at the final transfer fee, but you also need to remember how a timely transfer can help things on the pitch too.
Man United were thumped by Spurs today thanks to a defensive display that is one of the worst the club has ever seen, while Luke Shaw will take a lot of criticism as he had an absolute nightmare.
Alex Telles has been linked with the club for weeks if not months and reports from Portugal suggested that Porto initially wanted €27m to let him go, so it looks like they club have made a decent saving on the fee by delaying things and negotiating hard:
Telles will be a United player. Due in Manchester tomorrow. 15m euros, 4 year deal +1
— James Robson (@jamesrobsonES) October 4, 2020
While the accountants might be happy with that, if Telles had been signed earlier then you would expect him to be a regular starter in the team by now, and surely he would be doing more than Shaw to help that defensive unit.
There’s a similar example last season with Bruno Fernandes when the club waited until the end of January to make the signing and the damage on the pitch had been done, so the Portuguese star had to play out of his skin to secure Champions League football.
Telles will need time to settle in and get used to playing with his teammates so who knows when he will be ready to start, while the team have since had two humiliating home defeats due to a lack of timeliness in the transfer market.
It might save some money on the fees, but the failure on the pitch will only cost the club more money in the long run and it looks like a very short sighted approach to take.