Manchester United are inching close to making another big sale (by their usually low standards!) as they have accepted a bid for Scott McTominay.
Scott McTominay’s transfer to Napoli now remains contingent on the personal terms being agreed, and United will also be entitled to a sell-on fee in the future if he moves on.
It brings to an end a long-running transfer saga that actually started last summer so it has spanned one year, multiple clubs, and in between, an unexpected clinical season.
With Manuel Ugarte’s move now looking more and more likely, here’s why McTominay’s transfer is another vindication for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s best-in-class executive team at Manchester United.
Scott McTominay transfer- A win for Ineos
It was barely a week ago when Fulham had walked away from a deal for Scott McTominay and to make matters worse, signed Sander Berge.
Berge, as reported earlier, was a contingent plan for United if they failed to land Manuel Ugarte or wanted to add another midfielder.
Therefore, not only did United miss out on a potential £125 million boost to their finances by not finding an agreement for McTominay, but one of their own targets was also off the market.
It was widely accepted as the first “loss” of this window by Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s overhauled best-in-class recruitment team.
Fast forward from that day and now, United not only look close to landing Manuel Ugarte, but they have managed to extract more than their asking price for McTominay from Napoli.
To make it an even more clear-cut victory, they have negotiated a sell-on clause as well if McTominay moves from Napoli in the future.
The team kept calm, stuck to the plan, didn’t panic when one suitor moved away, and eventually ended up with the best deal nobody expected, especially from infamously stingy Italian clubs.
A window of victory
Of course, it remains to be seen how the pieces match on the pitch and how they perform to get positive results but for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, there are no hiding places for anyone.
Managers before Erik ten Hag, and Ten Hag as well before this season, have lamented at the slow-moving and indecisive nature of United’s transfer activity.
However, Ineos and the new team led by Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox, and Christopher Vivell, to name a few, have left no room for excuses this time.
Signings and sales have been made with surgical precision, on United’s terms, and fulfill a specific purpose.
When Ugarte arrives, it can unequivocally be declared United’s best transfer window since 2012.
For a team that only got settled together at the start of July (Omar Berrada was the latest to start officially, on July 13th), this is a remarkable achievement.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/X2CT1pJ