Manchester United have been linked with the most stereotypical transfer they possibly could make – sparking fears that nothing has changed following Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment.
The INEOS billionaire's 25 per cent purchase of his boyhood club was announced last month, with fans hopeful for a different kind of future at Old Trafford following the acquisition. The Glazers have become figures of hate at Manchester United, not just for taking money out of the club, but for their constant poor handling of footballing matters.
With United consistently overpaying for players and failing to put a competent structure in place to support the manager, some were hopeful that Ratcliffe's new era would see a transition from Hollywood flop buys to something smarter. It looks like no business will be done this month, though foundations could be laid for the summer.
So reports that the club are launching a world-record bid for Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr are… interesting.
On the one hand, this is a huge statement of intent from the Red Devils to chase one of the most complete wingers in the world and immediately put United back in contention with rivals, thanks to a game-changing attacker. On the other hand, has this ever worked before?
Throwing hundreds of millions at a Brazilian superstar isn't exactly the “working smarter” that some fans hoped for with this new direction. With Kylian Mbappe desperately coveted by Los Blancos, are direct parallels with this transfer to the Angel Di Maria move in 2014 that saw the Argentine swap Madrid for Manchester – just so that they could sign James Rodriguez.
That's without bringing up the likes of Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire, Casemiro, even Cristiano Ronaldo, whom United threw a lot of money at in the hope that one superstar deemed to be the best in the world in their position would solve a multitude of squad problems. One could argue that left-wing is where United are best stacked right now, anyway, with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho two of their best players in any position.
Luckily for United fans, talk of buying Vinicius for upwards of €150 million is at an incredibly early stage. There's absolutely no chance of it happening this month, with a move deemed more likely in the summer – and even then, it's probable that the club will have a better structure in place than they currently do.
Dan Ashworth has been rumoured for a sporting director role, as Ratcliffe takes time in his first few weeks at the Red Devils to assess what needs sorting before committing millions of pounds in transfers or even sacking Erik ten Hag. By the time a footballing expert has their feet under the table to assist with transfers, there will be a whole new set of targets.
It's highly improbable that any new transfer committee at Old Trafford decides that Vinicius Jr would be the quick fix to help things – and with Manchester United facing FFP considerations this season, it seems even more outlandish that they would drop a record transfer figure on one player, given the issues they have across their squad.
Rumours have always been rife when it comes to the biggest players going to Old Trafford. Perhaps this will become one of the last crazy multi-million-pound transfer murmurings of its kind before Ratcliffe transforms United's transfer reputation.
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