When Ralf Rangnick read Manchester United had bid for Marko Arnautovic he was convinced it was a media invention.
There was tragicomic irony in United pursuing forwards associated with Rangnick, Arnautovic's coach in the Austria national side, when his consultancy contract was shredded before it became active.
Rangnick is understood to have been astonished by United's approach in the market. The former interim manager has become a cause celebre for the fanbase; the objective troubleshooter who diagnosed open-heart surgery and advised United sign 10 new players. They signed six.
Also read: Why United splashed the cash late on
United are in a better place at the start of September than at the start of August. In their inconveniently scheduled deadline day fixture with Leicester, they were not the club in disarray as Brendan Rodgers awoke and wondered which sellable assets might be withdrawn from his squad. James Maddison was suggested to United, his boyhood club.
Previously, United had never spent more than £150million for permanent signings in a single window. Their 2014 record of £149.5m was shattered, with £225.4m invested in four additions.
That figure was warranted in a summer of a squad rebuild. United are satisfied with securing five major signings as part of what well-placed sources understatedly describe as a "significant squad refresh".
Erik ten Hag has been backed like no other United manager. Apart from the United board vetoing an approach for the Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech (only regarded as a back-up option), Ten Hag enjoyed a near-fully supportive first window as the club broke the £200m barrier in a summer for the first time.
Antony surpassed Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni as the record signing of the summer. Some will argue the spending is an inconvenient truth for supporters who have protested passionately against the Glazer family's ownership as United have invested £1.418bn in signing players in the last nine years.
The supporters take umbrage with how it is spent and, beyond that, the Glazer siblings' semi-annual dividends, the decrepit stadium, the millions haemorrhaged servicing a debt the family saddled the club with and their uncaring nature. Joel Glazer sporadically speaks with a handful of supporters on the fans' advisory board and those on it had to sign non-disclosure agreements.
Three years ago, United pitched a worthy recruitment reboot of targeting 23-28-year-olds, casting the scouting net wide, conducting due diligence, "manipulating the data" and whittling it down to a three-man shortlist per position with a preference for British talent. That playbook has been pulped.
Time will tell if the late scramble was money well spent or another omnishambles. United conducted themselves in an antiquated manner, working off a manager’s wishlist when there is personnel in place to give the illusion of a structure.
An agency source admitted they deal with many clubs “who are quite clueless but the one that always stands out are United”. Some feel the blind have been leading the blind at a club with a football director, a deputy football director, a head of recruitment operations, a director of data science and a technical chief scout.
Steve Brown, the head of recruitment operations, chief scout Simon Wells and an overseas scout head up recruitment, advised by a legal team of Sam Barnett, Martin Mosley, Andrew Penn and Thomas Keane. Barnett has effectively replaced Matt Judge as director of negotiations. Sources say Mosley is a good operator.
Chief executive Richard Arnold suffered his own "urgent transfer business" ignominy when he was filmed in Barcelona in early July. A new manager, a new man attempting to execute deals (John Murtough) and stuttering over targets; at times it resembled a remake of the David Moyes summer of 2013.
Arnold was waiting for Ten Hag following his post-match press conference at Southampton and earwiggers twigged only small-talk about injuries to Cristiano Ronaldo and Scott McTominay, rather than any mention of Antony. Arnold stopped when he spotted journalists observing the harmless discussion.
A former high-ranking employee at United said they were in “deep s–t” at the start of the summer and they have pulled themselves out of the mire, for now. Tyrell Malacia and Lisandro Martinez are on an upward curve while Christian Eriksen is a shrewd acquisition.
The left-footed Antony will balance out a lopsided attack though he will have a mythical shirt and exorbitant fee weighing heavy on his shoulders. Erling Haaland's fee was £34m lower than Antony's and plundered more league goals in August than the Brazilian did in Holland last season.
"I think we’ve strengthened the squad, that is clear," Ten Hag said on Wednesday. "As a manager, you always want more. What I demand from my players, I have to show myself as well. You always want to maximise but at a certain point you also have to be satisfied with what is there.
"I analysed the squad with a clear vision but we were on one page from the first talks I had with the club. They also saw the same – which positions we definitely had to strengthen. I am happy in those positions, we analysed the squad and succeeded in filling in with quality players."
For the majority of the window, it was a mash-up of United’s worst summers: pursuing a Barcelona midfielder for an inordinate period, getting misled by pre-season results, being led down the garden path by a marquee name, entering August without two priority targets, panic-buying and a deal collapsing due to a player’s extravagant salary demands.
They eventually hit Ten Hag’s target of recruiting five priority targets: a full-back, a centre-back, an attacking midfielder, a central midfielder and a forward. Ten Hag pushed for completion before the pre-season tour but while on the second leg in Melbourne figures at United realised their window shopping would continue well into August.
The pressure was mounting on the football director Murtough prior to the Casemiro and Antony deals in late August. Murtough joined United under Moyes and has climbed up the ladder to assume an inaugural role, one United discounted Rangnick and Paul Mitchell for as they specialised solely in recruitment. That was a direct contradiction of Ed Woodward’s assertion that “if you get recruitment wrong you’re f—-d”.
Thomas Keane, parachuted in to offset the resignation of Judge, was initially described by some as “out of his depth” although industry figures who deal with Keane sympathised with him as he was in an unstable environment.
Lessons have to be learnt in etiquette. A United official put the word out James Garner was for sale before telling the player first, tawdry treatment of an academy graduate whose sale seemed unforeseeable a month ago.
In contrast, Casemiro was impressed by United's eagerness and geniality. Although the deal appeared leftfield, United touched base with Casemiro much earlier in the window and he gradually warmed to the prospect of treading the same path as Raphael Varane. Casemiro's bargaining position was undeniably strengthened by United's humiliation at Brentford on August 13.
United severed ties with Rangnick six days after Ten Hag’s introductory press conference at Old Trafford. The pair spoke at length on the phone but never met in person and Rangnick, a meticulous recruitment specialist, would never have endorsed a move for Arnautovic, never mind Eredivisie-based players.
Rangnick deemed RB Leipzig and Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol a "must-buy" and recommended his teammates Konrad Laimer and Christopher Nkunku; a centre-back, a midfielder and a goalscorer to strengthen the team’s spine.
Although United's chances of signing Haaland were always remote, Rangnick urged them to attempt to negotiate a deal due to the Norwegian striker's release clause. United had refused to deal with Haaland's agent, Mino Raiola.
Manchester City sent delegates to visit Raiola to advance negotiations before he passed away in April. City bought Haaland for £51m.
Rangnick also endorsed Julian Alvarez as a possible attacking option in January after he was flagged by the United scouting department, only City swiftly finalised negotiated a deal with River Plate for £14m. Alvarez already has three goals.
Tchouameni, bought by Real Madrid from Monaco for £85.3m, was discussed early in the year but United did not engage with the midfielder’s agent as there was uncertainty over whether Ten Hag would want him.
Some scouts concluded one midfielder was not United standard to general disbelief and they have since been let go. One scout delivered a 30-minute presentation on one player and why United should not sign him. Another opined Declan Rice was not United calibre. It is unclear if those scouts are still at the club.
United agreed an €85m fee with Barcelona forFrenkie de Jong in July. Murtough had a verbal agreement with the player’s agent, Ali Dursun, on a salary, an encouraging development that suggested De Jong was more receptive to joining United than his public proclamations suggested.
De Jong’s wage deferral was the insurmountable stumbling block and Murtough privately described Barcelona’s behaviour as “disgraceful”.
Murtough was filmed smiling in response to an enthusiastic Norwegian fan’s cry of “get Frenkie” in Oslo after United's friendly with Atletico Madrid. Not filmed was a fan enquiring about his July trip to Barcelona.
“It’s lovely this time of year,” Murtough cheerfully replied. Murtough is an affable figure whose enthusiasm to reinvent United could do with being shared by the owners.
Although United hired Keane to advise on the legalities of transfers, they turned to trusted intermediaries to negotiate a deal for Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot. That eventually collapsed shortly after Murtough left Turin. Intermediaries also did legwork on Eric Bailly’s loan to Marseille.
United were prepared to supplement a marquee midfield signing with Rabiot but never intended on signing Casemiro and De Jong. United announced they had agreed a fee with Real Madrid for Casemiro exactly 100 days after they approached Barcelona about De Jong.
The club badly need Ten Hag's targets to vindicate the investment. Cherry-picking Dutch and former Ajax players is a questionable strategy with United's dismal hit-rate of Eredivisie recruits fresh in the mind. Memphis Depay and Donny van de Beek both left after 18 months, albeit Van de Beek was a loan deal. United considered moving for Depay, who worked under Ten Hag when he was a coach at PSV Eindhoven.
In their 14 years under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour, City have only ever bought one player from the Eredivisie - Angelino, an academy graduate whose buy-back option was exercised. He was involved in decisive defeats to Liverpool and United in the only season in the last five City failed to win the title and was jettisoned after six months.
An esteemed scout who watched Malacia for Feyenoord noted his acceleration and attacking approach but is adamant his diminutive stature leaves him vulnerable: "But with Shaw, Ten Hag needs a left-back," they added. Malacia has quickly ousted Shaw.
There remains bafflement in some coaching industry circles at United’s extravagant £55.3m investment in 5ft 9ins Martinez. One coach cautioned that Ten Hag’s benchmark for signings was so low he bought Daley Blind from United four years ago and he operated as though still Ajax coach on a budget that was tenfold.
Ajax were staggered by the fee they received for Martinez, exposed by Brighton and then, more punishingly, Brentford. Martinez has since recovered impressively to the point of winning player of the month for August and it is no disgrace for a newly-signed United centre-back to struggle. More thorough examinations await.
United attached quotes from Murtough to statements announcing signings as if he had masterminded deals for Dutch football affiliates. The buck ultimately stops with Ten Hag, Murtough's appointment.
As was Rangnick.
READ MORE:
