Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex
Ferguson has given his verdict on the Red Devils
summer acquisitions, which put the club back by
a mammoth £150m.
The Old Trafford club had a season to forget
during the 2013/14 campaign and ended up
finishing seventh in the Premier League, thus
putting them out of European competitions
entirely. This meant it was harder to attract top
quality players, as they all want to play in the
Champions League.
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However, Louis van Gaal surprised everyone when
he made some big signings in the summer and
even broke the British transfer record when he
landed Angel di Maria for a reported £60m from
Real Madrid. Ferguson feels that it was exactly
what United needed this summer.
"That's the way the game is going today with
fees like £85million for Gareth Bale. I think when
you can identify ability like that needed by
Manchester United, they have the resources to do
that. They are fees I never quite equalled but
nonetheless they were needing quite a big
injection this year," Ferguson said, as quoted by
the Daily Mail.
The Red Devils' first signing of the summer was
Spaniard Ander Herrera, who arrived from
Athletico Bilbao. The midfielder has been on
United's radar for over a year and former
manager David Moyes even failed in an attempt
to sign him last summer.
"(Ander) Herrera played against us three years
ago for Bilbao in the Europa League. In fairness,
they gave us a right battering at Old Trafford.
He's a talented young player and we scouted him
quite a lot at that time."
"Obviously I think they tried to get him last year
but it fell through for some reason or another.
He's athletic, quite aggressive actually for a lad
who has not got a great frame and he's quite
slim but he's quite aggressive and he gets around
the pitch," the former Old Trafford boss explained.
The second player to come through the doors
was young English defender Luke Shaw from
Southampton. He was brought in for a reported
£30m and is said to be one of the highest
earning members in the team. This, at just 19
years of age.
Ferguson revealed that he had tried to sign the
prodigious full-back three years ago, but the
Saints were not willing to do business at that
time.
"The signing of (Luke) Shaw was the one we tried
to get when he was 16 years of age. They
wouldn't sell him to us but they always said we'd
be first to know if they ever did. Of course, Ed
Woodward has carried that through and we got
him for, I think it was £30million. He's a talented
boy, a good footballer who likes to get forward all
the time," the former Premier League manager
revealed.
The next players came in as the summer transfer
window was beginning to shut, and everyone was
calling for the club to strengthen its defence
following the departures of Rio Ferdinand,
Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra.
Van Gaal did strengthen the back line, but not
how everyone expected him to. He signed
Argentine defender Marcos Rojo from Sporting
Lisbon, a player who was impressive for
Argentina during the 2014 World Cup.
Another signing was Daley Blind from Ajax. He
was a player that the Dutch manager knew very
well from their time together in the Netherlands
team, and again it was the player's versatility
that attracted the attention of the Manchester
club.
Sir Alex has likened the Dutchman to United fan
favourite Darren Fletcher, a midfielder who can
perform multiple roles for the team, a player who
will make sure he protects the back four and give
freedom to the attacking players to carry on with
their natural game.
"(Marcos) Rojo, the Argentinian boy, I watched
him at the World Cup, I thought he did really well
for them and I think he's capable of playing
either left side as a wing-back if you like or as a
centre-back."
"Daley Blind is one of those common-sense
footballers that make up a team. He's probably a
version of Darren Fletcher of a few years ago,
that type of player. He's a good professional with
common sense to his game. He keeps it simple
and protects the defenders and the attacking
midfield players in his role," the former United
boss remarked.
The final signing of the summer was what
surprised and delighted everyone at Old Trafford
and made other clubs look on with envy. Van
Gaal managed to sign Radamel Falcao from AS
Monaco on a season long loan, with an option of
making the deal permanent the following summer.
"The big one is (Radamel) Falcao who we're all
waiting to see. Obviously, he has fantastic
goalscoring ability. He had his injury so getting
him on loan is the right thing to do," Ferguson
concluded.
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