A couple of weeks ago Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said that he didn’t expect to make any more signings during the summer. After the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80 million, it was expected that some big names might be on their way to Old Trafford.
As it stands, United have only bought striker Michael Owen for free as well as winger Antonio Valencia, midfielder Gabriel Obertan and forward Mame Biram Diouf, to replace Ronaldo and the departing Carlos Tevez who’s loan spell came to an end.
Debt
The fact that United have not ’spent big’ has led some people to suggest that the funds from the Ronaldo transfer were being used to pay off some of the club’s enormous debt rather than being given to Ferguson to add to his squad.
Throughout the summer United have been linked to just about every top player, including the likes of French striker Karim Benzema, Brazilian forward Douglas Costa, French playmaker Franck Ribery and Spain striker David Villa. Benzema chose to go to Real Madrid and it seems that United’s interest in the other three has all but gone.
Funds
Yesterday a spokesman for the Glazer family who own the Old Trafford club made it clear that funds are available to Sir Alex if he finds the right sort of players.
“The manager has a significant amount of money to invest. We are talking about a net amount of about £60 million. That cash can be reinvested in the squad. The manager has not been able to locate players that fit the Manchester United mindset. You don’t want to pay for unmotivated players not willing to give their all.”
I wonder where Dimitar Berbatov fits within the phrase, ‘you don’t want to pay for unmotivated players not willing to give their all?!!’
The spokesman went on to clarify the position with regard to the debt the club took on when the Glazers arrived back in 2005.
“We do have debt to service and carry a significant amount of debt but our interest payments are around £43.3 million a year while our operating profit was £80 million topped by an extra £25 million from transfer profits.”
Interestingly Ryan Giggs has spoken out about how he believes United can come back and grow again after the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez. He referred to the mount of times Sir Alex has rebuilt the team during his twenty-three year tenure.
“Since I came into the team the likes of Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Keane and David Beckham have left the club. But that is what the manager is so good at, reshaping and re-energising the team. Carlos and Cristiano were great players but we move on. As players it’s like ships in the night. You just get on with it.”
I heard somebody say the other day that they believed Sir Alex has pretty much written off this season and would regard it as a great bonus if his team were to win anything. They said that he is concentrating on building another side capable of taking on and beating the best in Europe.
Emergence
The signings of young players such as Tosic and Obertan, together with the emergence of the likes of the Rafael twins, Gibson and Macheda and the slow blooding of Ben Foster to replace Van der Sar, may just be pointers to the fact that the pundit I heard talking may just have a point.
Do you think Sir Alex would be right to start rebuilding now or should he spend that £60 million on established big name players?
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