Mistakes are there to be learned from, not repeated. Fortunately, with Ineos seizing control from the Glazer family, Manchester United appear to be finally ready to move on from the blunders of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
It was impossible to watch Robert Lewandowski stumble through Barcelona’s 4-1 Champions League exit at the hands of PSG and feel that, if Joel Glazer was still calling the shots, the 35-year-old striker would soon be embarking upon an underwhelming two-season stint at Old Trafford.
But it’s Ineos who are making the big decisions these days, and the comments Sir Jim Ratcliffe made on the The Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast a few weeks back will have been music to the ears of a Manchester United fanbase sick of sticking plaster solutions and a flawed habit of targeting big names over potential.
“I’d rather find the next (Kylian) Mbappe than spend a fortune trying to buy success,” Ratcliffe said. “It’s not that clever, is it, buying Mbappe, in a way? Anyone could figure that one out.
“Much more challenging is to find the next Mbappe or Jude Bellingham, or the next Roy Keane.”
Ratcliffe making big changes at Manchester United
It’s telling that, according to The Guardian, Ratcliffe has been critical of Man United’s decision to sign Casemiro in a £70 million deal from Real Madrid. Less than halfway through the Brazilian’s four-year contract, Casemiro looks increasingly like something of a busted flush.
Bastian Schweinsteiger himself is rather emblematic of the erroneous transfer policy of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. Schweinsteiger, on the wrong side of 30 when he joined in a £13.5 million deal from Bayern Munich, is one of a host of declining megastars who arrived in Manchester past their peak.
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And the German icon feels that Man United do not have to look far to realise how infinitely more successful the opposite approach can be.
Bitter rivals Liverpool enjoyed years of sustained success, after all, by investing in youth, Schweinsteiger highlighting the £8 million acquisition of 23-year-old left-back Andy Robertson from relegation Hull City in 2017.
“How many miles is Liverpool away from Man United? What did Klopp do? Did he sign a lot of huge money transfers?,” Schweinsteiger adds, pointing out that such a stance worked wonders for the departing Liverpool boss during Borussia Dortmund’s time at the summit of German football.
“Look at Robertson. The same with other players. The same thing he did at Borussia Dortmund. He found Lewandowski, (Mario) Gotze, (Mats) Hummels, (Lukasz) Piszczek, (Jakub) Blaszczykowski, (Ilkay) Gundogan… All those players.
“You just have to look 45 miles (away) and see how they do it, and (Liverpool have) dominated since.”
Unitd can learn from Liverpool’s success
With Man United planning to bring in an elite-club builder in Dan Ashworth and the recruitment specialist that is Jason Wilcox, it appears that the days of 30-something, short-term solutions are over under Ineos.
United’s leading summer targets – including Michael Olise, Jarrad Branthwaite, Aaron Anselmino and co – are exactly the sort of player Liverpool would have prioritised at the pinnacle of the Klopp era. Young, hungry, brimming with potential.
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