Dismal, inept summer transfer business: another sign of a Man United in decline under the Glazers

Another transfer window has gone by and Manchester United have not taken any action. Instead, the club and its manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, are trying to put a positive spin on it, justifying the inexcusable dealings, or lack thereof.

This has been the case since the past decade or so, wherein United don’t see ‘value’ in the market. According to the hierarchy at the club, players are not available for the ‘right’ prices or they don’t want to play for the ‘badge’. All lame and poor excuses.

Manchester United fans complain about not replacing Romelu Lukaku’s goals or Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini’s graft in midfield. But the club has not even replaced the likes of Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick. Lukaku, Herrera and Fellaini are down in a long list.

Ed Woodward has depleted an already shocking squad and he still has not cleared out any deadwood. Matteo Darmian made seven appearances last season, Marcos Rojo made six. Both are still here. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are 27 and 29 respectively and have been at the club for more than nine years each, yet they are given time to correct out the mistakes which they have not been able to in almost a decade.

There was an obvious need for a right-winger, a new striker, a defensive midfielder, another creative midfielder and a left-back. Not one position was strengthened. One injury to Luke Shaw and United will be back to Ashley Young again. Daniel James has been given the mantle to lead the attack from the right side, someone who has played on the left for the majority of his career. 17-year-old Mason Greenwood has been asked to replace Lukaku’s 16 goals in his first season of senior football. Paul Pogba is the only creative midfielder, given Jesse Lingard’s lack of end product, Juan Mata’s decline and Andreas Periera’s inconsistencies.

United recorded record revenues of £690 million in the 18/19 season and yet their net spend is a mere £ 85 million. United was outspent by the promoted Fulham last year, Villa matched them this year. Man City, Arsenal and Spurs have all strengthened heavily, Liverpool already has a top squad. United are going backwards under the Glazer ownership.

Ed Woodward has repeated the same story for the seventh summer now. Being linked with hundreds of players, scouting them for months and then ultimately backing out or not getting deals over the line. There is no planning and no execution.

The squad is obviously deficient and it won’t be long till those same deficiencies are exposed. It took two gameweeks last season, let’s see how long can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can delay the inevitable…

Vedansh is a Manchester United fan from India. Follows almost all sports - football and pro-wrestling in particular. Wayne Rooney, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho are some of his favourites. He also writes for ItsRoundAndItsWhite.

Follow him on Twitter @NathaniVedansh