Manchester United legend Paul Scholes was never one for talking during his playing career but ever since his retirement, his second one, he has been quite vocal about his former club. Some criticise the player who was nicknamed SatNav because he can be divisive in his opinion but a lot of the time, he is just the frustrated voice of a supporter of the club. It must hurt him seeing United in the position they are in compared to the position the club was in when he was a player.
Scholes has stated that the clubs executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward needs to be splashing the cash on proven world-class talent with the club linked to Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho for much of 2020. However, it would seem that the club would rather spend less money on players who have promise, not the talent that is needed to flood the first team with stars that are able to make the difference on the pitch and guide United to the promised land.
In the past few days, United have been linked with Bournemouth winger David Brooks as an option should United not sign Sancho. Brooks is a good player and could become a special player with the right coaching and talent around him but he is a player that should be acquired in addition to Sancho, not instead of. The player’s technical ability is of great quality and he could very well make the step up and succeed at United but is he really an option should United miss out on Sancho. If Sancho is the number one target and Brooks is a close second, who has worked that out?
Scholes is 100% correct here. United seem to have the mentality of allowing the media to report players that they are linked to, not stating anything to suggest the club is or is not interested in the specific player, allowing speculation to rage on throughout the summer, doing very little in the background to get things done. Last summer, United needed to sign at least five players, eventually signing three, none of which arrived at the same time. It would seem that United are incapable of signing more than one player at a specific time. Speaking to BT Sport after United’s defeat to Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League semi-final on Sunday and reported by The Mirror, Scholes said:
“You talk about quality, talk about spending money on centre forwards and wide players.
“You talk about hundreds of millions for those players, but those are the players that win you trophies, the ones that win you medals.
“We know all this Sancho thing is going on, but they need to start spending the money. If they want to win trophies, they’ve got to start spending the money.”
United knew that Borussia Dortmund would be demanding £100 million or more for Sancho this summer, that was something that was initially reported in December, or maybe before. Surely United would have contacted the German club ahead of time and worked out what was really wanted for the player, then with the time available, three months extra due to the coronavirus pandemic, get a deal done so things can run smoothly at the start of the summer transfer window.
But no, that seems too hard for a club as big as United to do. The rumours of a director of football returned at the start of the summer and once again nothing has happened. It seems the club are trying to placate the media and the supporters, knowing that as the new season nears, nothing has happened and United look as if they are clueless, which is probably what they are. Inept if you will. Incapable of getting what the club needs to keep cash at the club, where it can eventually be trousered by one of the Glazers.
Written by John Walker
