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Man Utd 2011 Summer Spending
Manchester United: You Can't Buy Stability
Lee Bennett
Let's take an objective look at Manchester United's close-season spending spree that has so far netted the signings of Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers, Ashley Young from Aston Villa, and David de Gea from Atletico Madrid.
Around £50m has been splashed so far with strong indications that an expensive creative midfielder will also be brought in - Luka Modric, Wesley Sneijder and Sami Nasri being the likely candidates if the papers are to be believed.
The common statement on forums across the internet is “here go United, buying the league again” but is this really the case? With the huge spending of Manchester City and Chelsea over the past few seasons, United's spending is not in the same league.
£17m for Phil Jones appears excessive but is less than the £20m Liverpool dished out for Jordan Henderson. The £16m that it took to capture Ashley Young is half of what it would take to sign City target Alexis Sanchez, a Chilean from Udinese with no Premier League experience. The combined total of all three is only equal to the amount Chelsea paid for Fernando Torres last season.
Fergie is constructing a new team, one that will endure for years and will require little tinkering. Despite his denials the day of retirement is nearing and this team is either his final great achievement or the bedrock for the next manager.
Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Edwin van der Sar have retired and Ryan Giggs is surely next. Rio Ferdinand is creaking and there are doubts over the Old Trafford futures of Wes Brown and John O'Shea. There is a definite changing of the guard in progress.
It is obvious that the cheque book has been opened in this close season to not just put a plaster over these problem areas but to perform major squad surgery that will benefit for years. Spending the money in the right way now saves spending in subsequent seasons.
United always pay a premium because of who they are and for some inexplicable reason young English talent doesn't come cheap. The three players signed so far will develop with the United ethos under the stewardship of a great manager and will be an asset for a long time to come.
The back line is secure for the foreseeable future with Johnny Evans now bolstered by Chris Smalling and Phil Jones who, as a pair, were one of the few positives to emerge from England's failed European Under-21 campaign. Flanked by the steadily improving da Silva twins and backed by arguably Europe's best young goalkeeper in de Gea there is an exciting and lasting look to the future defence.
Further up field, Ashley Young is an inspired signing at a good price for a player who appears to be seriously under-estimated by many. Young's progress over the past year has been marked; he has developed into a player who can operate centrally as well as on either wing, and being genuinely two-footed he will add tremendous balance to United.
Only Cesc Fabregas has provided more assists in the past five seasons so Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez will be licking their lips at the prospect of a Nani-Valencia-Young supply line.
As will another England Under-21 bright spot, Danny Welbeck, who returns from a successful year on loan at Sunderland that saw him score six Premier League goals and earn a senior England call up. With Federico Macheda back from a loan spell at Sampdoria there is healthy and youthful competition for striking places.
As there is in midfield. Tom Cleverley spent a successful season on loan at Wigan, helping them survive relegation. This experience will have toughened him up and he will be contesting a first team place in the midfield next season. Add a Modric or Sneijder to this mix and United will be firm favourites for the title again next season.
With a clutch of youngsters knocking on the first team door, including the classy Paul Pogba and highly gifted Ravel Morrison, the prospects are good for a stabilized and sustained assault on the major honours once more.
Fergie is the master of creating new teams as he has proved several times already and his latest signings are canny ones. They will slot into the grand plan effortlessly and provide the backbone of a young team that will be around for years.
This is not buying the league; it is astute management and foresight to ensure that stability is maintained and the core of the team is continually based on developing youth. This has always been the case at Old Trafford where ‘marquee signings' have met with mixed results and are becoming a thing of the past.
"In Fergie We Trust" is a mantra of the Old Trafford faithful and you can understand why. With 69 years on the clock and a quarter of a century in the Old Trafford hot seat he is shaping yet another team; one that could be his youngest ever. His teams are as ageless as the man himself.
You can buy players but you can't buy stability. Fergie understands this better than anybody, which is why he enters his 70th year and 26th season with a future as bright as any.
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