Man Utd have made signing of the season as Newcastle summer gets even worse
Manchester United have pulled off the best signing of the summer, according to one reporter, while the window at Newcastle goes from bad to worse.
Man Utd still have plenty of work to do with regards to arrivals in the final fortnight of the summer transfer window.
A third midfielder to follow Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos into Old Trafford is desired. A new left-back to compete with and eventually displace Luke Shaw is on the agenda, as is an experienced new striker to back up Benjamin Sesko.
Yet despite the Red Devils being far from finished, a journalist from The Athletic believes one of their recruits is the biggest bargain any Premier League side has made so far.
In a report that had a crack at naming the best Premier League signing of the window, seven of the outlet’s journalists gave their assessments.
One of the reporters, Nick Miller, chose Tielemans, who via a release clause, cost just £35m when plucked from Aston Villa.
Youri Tielemans the signing of the summer?
Miller explained: ‘Christos Tzolis has looked lively in pre-season, and [Johan] Manzambi will be proper for Aston Villa once he gets settled, but I reckon Tielemans will prove to be an absolute bargain for Manchester United.’
Tielemans has unquestionably been one of the Premier League’s leading midfielders for well over half a decade now.
Prior to starring at Villa Park, he was helping Leicester City punch well above their weight and win the FA Cup.
Given the Belgian wasn’t playing for a traditional ‘Big Six’ side, he perhaps didn’t quite get the recognition he deserved.
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In any case, Villa’s loss is Man Utd’s gain and one of the other players Miller referenced – Johan Manzambi – was signed by Villa to offset Tielemans’ exit.
The Switzerland ace, 20, cost a hefty £59.5m (add-ons included) when bought from Bundesliga side Freiburg.
And according to one of the other reporters cited by The Athletic, it’s Manzambi who takes top spot in the best signing category.
Stuart James wrote: ‘As it stands, I’m going for Manzambi, the one that got away from Newcastle’s point of view and a player who was a joy to watch at the World Cup.’
Newcastle will rue Johan Manzambi transfer miss
As mentioned, Manzambi eluded Newcastle who had actually struck a club-to-club agreement with Freiburg for the player’s transfer in early-July.
That news was verified by our colleagues over on TEAMtalk, though they were extremely keen to stress Newcastle were concerned the deal would be hijacked.
An agreement on personal terms hadn’t been sealed, and before long, Unai Emery’s side swooped in and successfully hijacked the deal.
It was one of countless blows for Newcastle in a painful summer that has seen the Magpies sell three of their very best players (Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon).
And while those exits will sting for a while, it may be the Manzambi miss that proves costliest when all is said and done.
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