Manchester United Make Correct Decision Regarding Matheus Fernandes Deal

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Manchester United have been bullied in the transfer market more than any other team within the Premier League over the last decade. The exorbitant fees the previous ownership paid, with Ed Woodward at the helm, were unsustainable.

The wages handed out to entice players with little to no desire or love for United to sign for the club have been nothing short of an ongoing joke within the circles of those close to the Premier League. It was a run of events that had to change for the sake of the future of a sleeping giant.

This was always going to be one of the main things INEOS attempted to change when they stepped into the recruitment positions behind the scenes. That step towards working to rectify the opinion regarding the tendencies within the market, ensuring that when negotiations are started the Reds are in a strong position. Lowering the chances of succumbing to a high price tag, or signing a player on ridiculous wages, which would deflate the wage structure that they are attempting to implement since the takeover.

Put simply, as great as the player is, £85 million for Matheus Fernandes is too much money. Not only is the fee and valuation itself a vast overpayment, but the fact that Tottenham Hotspur have paid it all upfront as a fixed fee means a transfer was always ridiculously out of the reach of the side from Old Trafford. United have been reported to have a cash flow issue, which means fixed fees like that become a lot more difficult than transfers done with add-ons.

A Fee Too Far For Fernandes

Spurs have, of course, done well to sign a player of the calibre of Fernandes. He will be a successful player for Spurs, but it does come with a cost, and £85m was too big a cost for the side from Old Trafford to pay. Pelters will no doubt come the way of INEOS as they spearhead recruitment, but if clubs were to listen to the uproar on Twitter every time the fans missed out on a signing they have already built up in their head, recruitment would be in a much worse place than it is now.

In fact, Ed Woodward made the mistake of continuously giving in to fan approval and fan desires, and with that delivered some of the worst transfer dealings the football world has ever seen. That statement comes without any sort of exaggeration.

What United need to do now is react. A Plan B and perhaps a Plan C should already be in motion. Any solid recruitment team would have one if they missed out on someone who was reported as their Plan A. Aurelien Tchouameni, in truth, is United’s primary target.

He always has been, but as reported by Fabrizio Romano, the financials of the deal are very difficult. The salary of the Frenchman in particular is a huge stumbling block, but it’s not an impossible deal for the club. Far from it.

Alex Scott and Carlos Baleba make up the rest of the supposed Plan A/B targets left for the Reds. Both are likely to cost upwards of £70m within the market. The price would be around fair when it comes to Scott, but Baleba’s last 12 months have not warranted anywhere near a £50m price tag, let alone £70m.

United could shop outside England for the Fernandes alternative. Players like Manu Kone of Roma and Mamadou Sangare of RC Lens are more affordable players with profiles that could still be immense additions to the make-up of the squad. Youssouf Fofana is a midfielder the club previously had direct contact with, and again is a player who fits what United are looking for in the centre of the park.

It will be interesting to see where they do indeed decide to pivot towards, but one thing is certain: the decision to allow Spurs to pay that £85m upfront was the correct one. The collective agreement internally at Old Trafford to walk away from giving a player like Fernandes wages of £250,000 is the right move.

A football club should not allow agents to dictate transfer fees and players’ desires. Jorge Mendes has played the Reds for fools in the past. He can no longer be allowed to do that in the future.

From this moment on, INEOS cannot stall in the market. Business has to be concluded quickly to capitalise on some clubs who could be in transition next season. Manchester City are not guaranteed to click straight into gear following the departure of Pep Guardiola. Liverpool under Andoni Iraola are not a sure-fire team to push for a league title again.

That leaves Arsenal truthfully as the only side starting from a level base in regards to last season that could stand in the way of Michael Carrick and his team pushing for the league title. The foundations are there. INEOS need to provide some new blood to make sure those foundations grow stronger, and start building towards the pinnacle as best as they can.

A midfield signing needs to come in soon, but even still, United have done the right thing by walking away from Fernandes. It might not seem like it in the short-term, but those moaning about the fact they have were the same ones crying out every time their side got rinsed in the market every single window up until recently. It’s a new dawn for the club, and it’s still shaping up to be a bright one. Missing out on Matheus Fernandes does not change that fact one bit.