There are merits to having a model where someone other than the manager is responsible for transfers, while you can also argue that it’s actually the sign of a club that’s well run.
It means they can keep going in the same direction when the manager moves on and there’s no need for a drastic turnover in playing staff, but it somehow looks like Man United have the worst of both worlds.
ESPN reported that the club failed to secure any of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s targets this summer so he’s at a disadvantage in his job, while there’s no obvious strategy with the players they did sign either.
They confirm that the manager went into the summer hoping to sign Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and either Nathan Ake or Dayot Upamecano to help strengthen the defence.
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Obviously that didn’t happen so he’s having to work with a squad that isn’t the one he wanted, but they point to the January window and show how they failed him there.
Solskjaer was desperate to sign Erling Haaland who has now established himself as one of the most prolific strikers in the world, but he was actually given a Championship level striker on loan in Odion Ighalo.
It shows that those running the club are highly incompetent because there’s little sign of a direction or an identity in their signings so making panic moves will just cause problems if they don’t work out and the club struggle to move them on.
It’s probably fair to say that Solskjaer isn’t the best man for the job at Old Trafford, but he’s certainly not going to succeed if he’s continually undermined in the transfer market either.