The dust had hardly settled on the controversial Saudi Arabian-backed takeover of Newcastle and the North East club were already making better transfer decisions than Manchester United. The signing of Bruno Guimaraes in January was a masterstroke.
It didn't take long for Guimaraes to show he would improve most Premier League sides. The Brazilian made a flawless transition to England and he's encapsulated quality, confidence and composure since. Guimaraes has been levels ahead of the opposition when he's played. He's almost the complete midfielder and it's difficult to understand why United didn't move for him four months ago.
Guimaraes is everything United need in midfield. He could have played his part in a midfield three at Old Trafford alongside Bruno Fernandes and a defensive midfielder, who United will sign this summer, but he was lured to St. James Park instead.
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The competition next season in the Premier League will be intense, with clubs like West Ham, Leicester, Aston Villa, Wolves and Newcastle all looking to disrupt England's elite. It goes without saying, United need to remain one step ahead of such clubs if they want to continue to regularly qualify for Europe. They were two steps behind in January and that can't happen again.
United's recruitment has been awful across the last decade and Ed Woodward and Matt Judge are mostly responsible for that. Woodward's premiership came to an end in February and Judge is set to leave. Richard Arnold has succeeded Woodward and there has positive noise from his first few months at the top. John Murtough has also been given more power, which is promising.
This summer is a fresh start for United, an opportunity they so desperately need. United must distance themselves from the extensive catalogue of errors they have committed but they must learn from them. They need to be a forward thinking club again.
Other clubs, like Newcastle, will have the financial muscle to capitalise on complacency, however, United can send a timely reminder of the Premier League's pecking order this summer by hijacking a deal for Sven Botman, who AC Milan and Newcastle both have a concrete interest in signing. United let Guimaraes slip through their net and they can't make the same mistake with Botman.
United are in the market for a centre-back this summer and Botman could prove to be a shrewd and outstanding acquisition. It has been suggested the 22-year-old central defender could be available for £25m and that seems remarkable value.
Botman has established himself as one of Europe's most exciting young defenders in France. He was instrumental in Lille's unlikely Ligue 1 triumph last season and he's been as equally impressive this time around, despite the club's underwhelming league campaign. Botman has the potential to become world-class yet it's clear he'd already be able to improve United's porous backline.
Raphael Varane will be the first centre-back on Erik ten Hag's team sheet next season if he remains fit, but Botman has actually performed better than Varane on the majority of key statistical metrics this season, which highlights his quality.
The obvious caveat is that he plays in Ligue 1, which is an entirely different proposition to the Premier League, however, Botman's performances in the Champions League show he's capable against elite opposition elsewhere, like Chelsea.
Regarding offensive metrics, the statistics show Botman is superior to Varane. Botman has averaged more successful dribbles, more attacking actions and more goals per 90 than Varane this season and that shows he could help United dictate from the back.
Botman's superiority over Varane on defensive metrics isn't as significant but he still ranks better than the Frenchman on most key stats, just like on successful defensive actions, ball recoveries and interceptions shown below. It's also worth noting, that in his two seasons in Ligue 1, Botman hasn't committed a single error leading to an opposition goal in 61 appearances.
Botman stands at 6ft 3in and he looks ready-made for the Premier League. Pau Torres is back on United's radar this summer, but the Dutchman would be cheaper to sign and his ceiling could be higher than Torres', which is quite the compliment.
It's inevitable that Botman soon will get a move away from Lille and United should seriously consider him this summer.
United must begin making forward-thinking transfer decisions and signing Botman wouldn't be a bad place to start.
Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
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