In Gary Neville's traffic-light system ranking Manchester United's major transfers since 2013, Daley Blind was in the red.
Blind, a £13.8million signing from Ajax in 2014, enjoyed a decent first season, switching from defensive midfield to left-back, where he was integral to that sprightly spring of six successive league wins under Louis van Gaal.
In the second season, he moved inside to centre-back after Sergio Ramos led United down the garden path and United had the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League, letting in a measly 35 goals in 38 games, and won the FA Cup.
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Under Jose Mourinho, Blind bookended United's best season in the last nine years with authoritative runs of form at centre half, culminating in the Europa League final schooling of Ajax. Blind's fourth campaign was a write-off but he was worthy of amber status in Neville's system.
Blind rather encapsulates the tragicomic incompetence of the United AD (after dominance). He was privately derided as an un-United signing by Ed Woodward, who oversaw Blind's transfer back to Ajax back in 2018. The manager who signed him was Erik ten Hag, a man United now blindly back in the transfer market.
Ten Hag's judgement is so questionable United are prepared to sell James Garner, a 21-year-old untried midfielder who is a victim of his own success. Garner spent last season on loan at Nottingham Forest, away from the United madhouse, so is deemed sellable. There is not a market for United duds, who are almost exclusively unsellable.
Crystal Palace would re-sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka - for no more than £10m. United paid them £45m for Wan-Bissaka three years ago, though it is safe to say the £5m in add-ons will not be transferred.
Forest and Tottenham are both interested in Garner. Whisper it, but you could envisage the Merseysider thriving under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, their midfield in need of new blood.
United football director John Murtough made the call to put Garner up for sale on Thursday, with the academy graduate valued between £15m and £20m. Agency sources believe United have under-valued an England Under-21 international developed in one of world football's most famous academies who is Premier League-ready.
Most tellingly, Garner's fee would cover the cost of Adrien Rabiot. One in and one out. Classic Glazernomics. It happened on deadline day in 2020 when Alex Telles came and Chris Smalling went for identical fees (€15m rising to €20m). There were less than three hours between confirmation of those deals.
To no one's surprise, Garner was still named on the bench at Brentford as United have a gaping void in their team where a midfield is supposed to be. With Scott McTominay, what you see is what you get; he has a ceiling and he has hit it. Fred has merit in the right structure but United are as stable as a Jenga tower. Donny van de Beek has not started a meaningful league match for United since December 2020 and was hooked at half-time.
Garner got only 22 minutes of playing time during United's pre-season tour and you wondered at the time whether that could change his career path. Jose Mourinho, Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick championed Garner but they have all left.
Plenty of United fans would have Garner in the starting XI against Liverpool on Monday. Born in Birkenhead, he has an understanding of the rivalry, faced Liverpool's youth team in the slushy snow at The Cliff, started in a Uefa Youth League defeat to their Under-19s, gauged the fanatical following the teams generate in the University of Michigan's Big House on his first tour in 2018 and excelled for Forest in their narrow FA Cup defeat in March.
It has been three-and-a-half years since Garner cameoed on his debut for United at Selhurst Park. He is yet to start in the top-flight and he would be no worse than McTominay and Fred on current form.
Relocating Lisandro Martinez, predictably preyed upon at centre-back already, to defensive midfield and complementing him with two technicians has merit.
With Thiago Alcantara hamstrung, Jurgen Klopp selected the workhorse James Milner next to Fabinho in the draw with Crystal Palace, with Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita on the bench. Keita, Henderson and Milner lined up in the 5-0 evisceration of United at Old Trafford last season and two are likely to start with Fabinho next week, especially with Darwin Nunez suspended and Diogo Jota also sidelined.
Fred and McTominay were pitted against Liverpool 10 months ago and it set an ominous tone for the new season that Ten Hag retained that axis until it was divorced by Moises Caicedo.
At United, the blind lead the blind when they could still do with Blind.
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