Manchester United In Deep Trouble If This Transfer Fails

In the aftermath of the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, long-serving left-back Luke Shaw was devastated.

“It’s so damaging,” he told TNT Sports. “I think not obviously just tonight, but also we know how big it was for the future, the things that come with winning the Europa League, the Champions League for next season.

“But it hurts a lot. To be honest, this season it’s not been good enough. I’ve just said it [in the mixed zone], but I’ll say it here again, I think us as players, we have to question are we good enough for Man United? Because this season is not acceptable.

“I think where we are in the league, the results we’ve had, it’s not acceptable for a club like Manchester United that has won multiple trophies, that’s always been one of the biggest teams in the world.

“At the moment, we’re so far away from that, and I think us, as players, we have to take responsibility for that, because we’re the ones that are on the pitch that need to deliver, and not just deny it.

“But I think it’s been a whole season and it’s been nowhere near good enough.”

Shaw’s statements were remarkable in their honesty. They were blunt and brave in the context of a devastating loss.

Former Manchester United legend Gary Neville felt Shaw’s statements were painfully revealing.

Displaying more anger than we are used to, the Red Devils legend fiercely criticized the England full-back on his podcast, It’s Called Soccer.

“Luke, it’s not your job to determine that,” he said,

“A player at Manchester United should have no control as to whether they’re there or not; the manager of the football club decides if you’re good enough whether you’re good enough to play in that football team. He will determine that.

“When the players are stating to come out and question whether they’re good enough to play for the club you know how bad it is internally. Can you imagine what they’re saying to each other inside?

“Honestly, I think you’ve got to wipe it out. You’ve got to wipe out every single player in that dressing room who doesn’t believe that they’ve got total and utter confidence to play for that football club.

But the club is eating them alive. It’s too big for them and someone’s got to get a grip of that club and I think it has to be the manager Ruben Amorim.”
“Amorim needs to look at how next season he can get into the top six.

“How he basically wipes half that squad out, how he transforms it into a dynamic team that plays exciting football from the rigid stuff we’re currently watching him serve up. And he needs to think about which players in that dressing room can do a job for him.

“Cause if players are starting to question their own belief and belonging in that dressing room, they’ve got a huge problem.”

Neville’s ***essment that Manchester United needs an overhaul is hardly a fresh ***ysis.

It feels like that club has been trapped in an endless cycle of revamps since Sir Alex Ferguson departed well over a decade ago.

The trouble is that nothing ever seems to stick. The foundations are upended because they are unsteady and replaced with an equally unbalanced structure.

Manchester United fans find it difficult to get too excited about Amorim’s overhaul, given the many changes they’ve seen.

New Signings Must Work

The first big task for the manager is removing the collection of once-hyped academy graduates and expensive flops holding the club back.

Jadon Sancho, who cost $100 million, and Antony, a $112 million buy, both need selling at a considerable loss.

Then, former youth teamers Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, who were at various times touted as the future of Manchester United, must be sold as Amorim has decided they are bad influences.

Given the dire financial state co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has claimed the club is in, more players should follow them out the door.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, Sir Jim said if drastic cost-cutting had not taken place, there would have been a cashflow disaster.

“Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year – by the end of 2025 – after having me put $300m in and if we buy no new players in the summer,” he said.

“We are in the process of change and it’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans.

“The simple answer is the club runs out of money at Christmas if we don’t do those things.”

Given this stark warning, the pressure on the new signings Manchester United seeks to acquire couldn’t be higher.

Fans will take heed of the fact that Mateus Cunha, who arrived for $85 million from Wolverhampton Wanderers, is already setting ambitious goals.

He is set to be joined by Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford, although the Bees are holding out for closer to $100 million.

Mbeumo will arrive with a proven Premier League track record from an excellent goal-scoring campaign. But succeeding in Manchester won’t be easy.

Neville pointed out, “Man United has become a very difficult place for new signings to operate over the past 10 years.”

Neither he nor Cunha is of the same caliber as Jadon Sancho or Marcus Rashford have been in their careers. Yet the bets being placed on them are huge.

The risks if they fail couldn’t be higher.