What a Waste of Money?

When Manchester United acquired the most prolific young forward in Europe for £30m this summer it was hailed as a brilliant signing. Southampton manager Ronald Koeman said of him "He has had a great season. He still has to develop himself. It will be tough for him because the Premier League is tough in a physical and mental way. It's a big step for him. But he's a great talent, a fast player and a very good signing for Manchester United." He now finds himself on the bench.





However when French forward Anthony Martial became the most expensive teenager in football history when he signed for Manchester United for a fee in the region of £36m from Monaco most people would have looked him up to see who he was. Many were stunned including John Collins, the former Monaco and Scotland star, who believed United chief Louis van Gaal had taken a 'huge gamble' on the former Lyon star. He said, " United have taken a huge gamble on potential because he's not produced week in, week out." He has been Utd's best performer up to now this season.

This just highlights how difficult a manager's job is as less informed pundits, quick to criticise and copy each other, can put undue media pressure on decisions which then in turn increases like a snowball rolling downhill with social media input.
There are many other controversial examples such as the £60m paid by Pellegrini for the defensive pair of Otamendi and Mangala.
Mourinho sold Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku for £46m and signed Baba and Pedro for £39m.
Liverpool and Spurs sold 'star' players and attempted to rebuild their squads with the money which have been proved to be unsuccessful ventures.

Whether all the above will prove to be shrewd deals remains to be seen but as Rodney Marsh used to say 'let's not have knee jerk reactions'.