Liverpool needed Cody Gakpo more than Manchester United. Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, two right-footed left-wingers, are long-term absentees. Two of United's goalscorers against Nottingham Forest have played their finest football from the left, the flank Alejandro Garnacho occupied during another crowdpleasing cameo.
Gakpo's imminent unveiling is the death knell for Roberto Firmino, out of contract at Liverpool in June. Diaz's arrival in January was part of the phasing-out process of Sadio Mane, emboldened to seek a move to Bayern Munich. Liverpool may have underestimated Mane's importance but they have form for prompt and decisive business. Darwin Nunez was signed before July.
Liverpool, put up for sale by their American owners, are below United in the table. It is in Fenway Sports Group's interests to protect their asset by reinforcing an attack and they are not reticent spenders in the winter. Virgil van Dijk, a transformational transfer, joined in January 2018.
Also read: Ten Hag backs four United forwards amid Liverpool deal for Gakpo
The Glazers cannot justify a similar expense to Gakpo. Liverpool invested £92.7million in Nunez and Fabio Carvalho, a figure dwarfed by United's £225.4m. Committing as much as £50m on Gakpo would have compromised a possible move for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, a far more suitable target.
An additional attacker is essential for a team that was again too merciful in front of goal against a porous Forest. Only Marcus Rashford has broken double figures in the goalscoring charts and Anthony Martial has half as many.
If United erred in what has been an otherwise impressive summer window, it was with the exorbitant £85.51m invested in Antony, without a goal since October 9 and seemingly more invested in his country than his club as the World Cup loomed.
Antony's performances since he shed tears at Brazil's penalty shootout defeat to Croatia have been tepid and even when he was scoring his frivolousness was an issue. He has had enough leeway.
United are under added pressure with Gakpo bound for England's north-west of Merseyside rather than Manchester. Ten Hag has repeatedly said he wants to recruit a goalscorer in January and Gakpo is versatile, a good age, with reasonable pedigree, familiar to Ten Hag and was attainable.
He is also the last profile of player United need. Martial, Rashford, Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga have been at their best off the left. Gakpo only started centrally for the Netherlands in Louis van Gaal's back-three system that his replacement Ronald Koeman is likely to abandon.
United football director John Murtough had met with his agent, Kees Vos (also Ten Hag's representative) weeks before PSV's Boxing Day announcement. The notion United's move was hijacked is easy spin for Liverpool's cheerleaders when he was never a prime United target. Discussions were only held in the summer amid United's struggle to make headway in a deal for Antony.
Sources at United are sceptical of January and one said "you're either taking someone's problem or you're had over a barrel". There is some truth to that although the club's most influential signing since Robin van Persie was Bruno Fernandes, bought in January. Gakpo, at £37m, has fetched a slightly lower fee than Juan Mata did in January 2014.
Ralf Rangnick was scornful of United's refusal to add an attacker last January, a month when Diaz, Dusan Vlahovic, Julian Alvarez and Dejan Kulusevski were on the move. Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur's arrivals at Tottenham were the difference in their qualifying for the Champions League. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all but admitted United would not have finished in the top four without Fernandes in 2020.
Next month is shaping up to be similar to three years ago as far as the striker search is concerned. United are adamant they will not stoop to glancing at options in the Chinese Super League. An agency source said the majority of available strikers would have to be bought, not loaned.
United have somewhat rowed back on the winter window in light of the Gakpo deal. Figures at the club suggested in early December United would target "good value" options and not move for "bargain options who are not good enough to improve the squad". Now the word is the likeliest deal will be a loan. Loanees are seldom high-end brands.
It is subjective whether, say, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting would improve the United squad. The misfit with a relegated Stoke has a salesman of an agent to rival Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross: he has since secured transfers to Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, where he is in situ. As the only out-and-out striker in the Bayern squad, it is perhaps more hassle than it is worth for the German champions to have Choupo-Moting off the books ahead of a round-of-16 Champions League tie with PSG.
Had United moved for Marko Arnautovic now rather than their penny-pinching approach in early August then it would be more palatable for supporters. Only Osimhen has tallied more Serie A goals than the Bologna forward but United's principled followers would have still railed against Arnautovic on the integrity grounds that scuppered a deal in the summer.
Finances at United have been described as stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic and the record summer. It is not what idealistic fans want to hear but United have consistently said the summer spending was an anomaly and it is not a coincidence the most expensive deals were green-lit after the debacle at Brentford.
Garnacho has since earned a permanent promotion to the first-team squad. Gakpo would have bed-blocked him.
READ MORE:
