Man Utd: ‘Very poor’ recruitment continues with Ratcliffe’s ‘world-class’ dream team amid two mistakes

Even Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s “world-class” dream team at Manchester United are making mistakes as their “very poor” recruitment continues…

Was the summer transfer window positive for Man Utd? It’s certainly debatable, but we’re leaning towards yes. Just about.

Did United sign the wrong goalkeeper on deadline day? Probably, but at least the late arrival of Senne Lammens means the days of Andre Onana and/or Alter Bayindir starting regularly for the Premier League giants are over.

They have also overhauled their attack with the additions of Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha for around £200m combined, with the early indications that the latter two should be relatively successful at Old Trafford, while we’re unsold on their £74m man.

And perhaps most importantly, all but one member of the back seat on the school bus crew left the club, with only Tyrell Malacia remaining following the summer exits of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Alejandro Garnacho.

So not too bad overall, though the continuation of last season’s misery under Ruben Amorim in the early weeks of this campaign suggests they are still miles off the leading pack and have no chance of meeting Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s set target of winning the Premier League by 2028.

To put Man Utd on track to achieve this aim, Ratcliffe has been a busy man as he’s alienated himself to the point where he’s rivalling the Glaser family in terms of unpopularity at Old Trafford following several brutal and/or needless decisions, notably the so-called implementation of a “world-class” recruitment team after years of “very poor” transfer business.

Ratcliffe is right in saying that Man Utd’s recruitment, overall, has been extremely dour post-Sir Alex-Ferguson, though he and his supposed dream team of experts, including director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada, are far from perfect.

This has been exposed in The Athletic‘s annual exposé of Man Utd’s business via their ‘inside the transfer window’, which has revealed a couple of gems from this summer.

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Firstly, we have Wilcox’s verdict on Man Utd’s top priority for the summer window.

‘The choice at that stage was to go for a No 6 or a No 9. Some at the club believe a midfielder should have been the priority, but Wilcox advocated to sign a scorer, after United’s record of 44 Premier League goals last campaign, and Ratcliffe backed that call.’

There is a semblance of logic to Wilcox’s stance, with the lack of goal threat needing to be addressed after Man Utd became especially toothless in attack following the implementation of Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation.

But as poor as Joshua Zirkzee and especially Rasmus Hojlund were last season, a contributing factor to their woes was the absence of a creative spark in Man Utd’s side to forge chances.

The arrivals of Mbeumo and Cunha ease this issue, and while an upgrade in the No.9 position was needed, it was a mistake to spend £200m on attackers and completely ignore the No.6 department, which is equally in need of fixing.

Carlos Baleba would have been the perfect solution and he could still prove to be that in January or next summer, though United’s period of punishment is to continue as long as they are without a selfless protector and well-rounded midfield partnership.

Further forward, the return of a proven Premier League striker to take some of the pressure off Sesko, Hojlund and/or Zirkzee, but Ratcliffe wasn’t playing ball.

‘Ratcliffe was known to feel United could not sanction a two-year deal for [Danny Welbeck], who is 35 in November, and instead a one plus one was discussed, but the offer was not formalised.’

Sesko, like Hojlund, could easily end up faltering amid the overwhelming pressure of carrying Man Utd’s frontline from a young age, but his chances of succeeding would be greater if there were a Welbeck-type player for him to lean on for support.

Welbeck would have been a cheap and risk-free signing as he’s been the model professional throughout his career, and his recent renaissance suggests he is still capable of delivering on and off the pitch for United.

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