A Season in the Red: Managing Man UTD in the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson by Jamie Jackson
Author:Jamie Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aurum
Chapter 15
Galacticos on Mancunian Way
Saturday, 23 August 2014 is a notable day for Manchester United aficionados. The club is back in (again) for Real Madridâs Ãngel Di MarÃa and the fee is to be a British record £59.7 million. This mega-deal signals that the post-Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United are trying to fast forward through innocence, growing pains, youth and adolescence to come of age. He-who-can-never-be-forgotten never will be. But dukes are bared and EdWoodwardâs first headline foray into the transfer market for Louis van Gaal is to corral Di MarÃa for sixty million large ones. The manager wants Di MarÃa as he is a game-changer of record. His pace and trickery and football intelligence fits into the Van Gaal philosophy. Di MarÃa is talked up by Van Gaal publicly and seems more of the managerâs player than the first two summer arrivals, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, who were identified before he took over.
By the close of the transfer window, the purchase of Di MarÃa and the final-day deal for Radamel Falcao will be written up, imprinted in the rough draft of history, as The New Galactico Era. It marks a turning point in the grand tradition of United rearing the clubâs own players. A look outward to the vistas rather than inwards to the fields of Carrington. As with all histories, this is not quite correct. Or, rather, like all histories, the yarn would benefit from a little more complexity. The truth is that United have always had a rich tradition of buying the best in show footballers â a few recent names would include Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney â and this did not stop the club continuing to develop and hothouse their own talent. So in acquiring Ãngel Di MarÃa, United may simply be paying far more than ever before (a cool £22.6 million more than the £37.1 million spent on Juan Mata last January) for a footballer. Yet what Louis van Gaal is definitely not acquiring is a solution to the seemingly never-ending central-midfield issue. Di MarÃa is a pacey winger by trade. A player who turned Mayâs Champions League final for Real Madrid is more of an upgrade on Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia and Adnan Januzaj. This is what the evidence points to, anyway. He is an oven-ready, proven performer.
However, there is no doubt the Argentine would have stayed at Real if only they had wanted to keep him. This may not augur well as Di MarÃa tries to settle in. In a rather puzzling move he pens an open letter to Real fans saying: âSadly the time has come for me to leave, but I would like to make it clear that it was never my wish.â This is not the best way to introduce himself to United supporters. Admitting publicly that he never wanted to go means he does not really want to be at Old Trafford. The honesty is praiseworthy, but the cold truth is that Di MarÃa is a professional, signed for an astronomical fee.
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