On a cold, dreary day, Ed Woodward boarded the 8.55 am train from Manchester to Lille, France. Woodward supposedly was on his way to seal this long running saga to try and sign Bruno Fernandes, as well as snapping up Boubakary Soumare, the young midfielder from Lille. We can only speculate that Woodward, sitting in his first class Eurostar table seat, staring out of the train window pondering. The window pane condensing from his heavy breathing, muttering to himself, “maybe, getting a director of football might solve my problems”. Well, that’s the only logical scenario we could think of…

The fact of the matter is, if Manchester United were serious about acquiring a player of Bruno Fernandes’ ability and profile, they would have signed him by now. This tug of war between Woodward and Sporting Lisbon’s directors regarding clauses, on top of the transfer fee has perplexed many United fans. There is no negotiation in recent times that this transfer saga can be compared to. Are United now handling transfers with more of a level headed approach in this exorbitant market, sniffing out Sporting’s over inflated demands?

Ole’s three transfers since becoming manager have amassed a total of £150M in transfer fees, and arguably, the players have been more hit than miss. This is leaps and bounds from the previous big three transfers that were completed- Lukaku, Fred, and Sanchez. Solskjaer’s brand of football has been anything but reminiscent of the style implemented during his playing days by Sir Alex Ferguson. The fast, fluid and counter-attacking football that United were so accustomed to has become a distant memory now. As of today, United have their worst point record in the league for 23 years, with a team he’s arguably moulded himself – selling Lukaku, loaning out Smalling and Sanchez. He has continuously thrust forward youngsters such as Williams, Chong, Gomez, and Greenwood to fill in the gaps of quality that are severely lacking in the rest of the squad.

United’s main problems come from creating any credible and consistent attacking threat. Yes, Rashford, Martial, and James ooze quality at times, but there is an issue with consistency. There is a real argument to be made that many a time their dribbling, shooting, and passing heroics come about more fortune than deliberation; they are not simply ready to lead the team to a string of continuous wins.

Changing their recruitment policy to more sensible transfers is all well and good, but for how long is the current squad going to maintain this transition period while the rest of the pack power on to new levels?

Currently, it seems only United are interested in Fernandes, despite Spurs’ heavy interest last summer. However, with Erikson staying that summer, one can only assume they didn’t find a spot in the squad to justify Sporting’s demands.

🤷🏽‍♂️😂

I’m sitting & waiting like you!

Keep refreshing @ManUtd twitter https://t.co/GwHXxbwiHr — Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) January 10, 2020



It’s clear Fernandes wants to leave, he has expressed it many times over Twitter, like a bird chirping its location and availability openly to its predator. Even Ferdinand seemed to nudge United towards sealing the deal, with consecutive tweets regarding the player.

It’s simple, Manchester United need more experienced players around the younger players at the club, as well as addressing both injuries and lack of quality in the side. However if this saga continues further and Fernandes does join United, it will be with a bitter-sweet taste.

Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: