Manchester United, Transfers and Louis Van Gaal

I love Manchester United and obviously would want us to attract the biggest names in world football every transfer window. But I have to admit that it's now very unlikely that we will sign huge talents frequently like we did throughout the tenure of Sir Alex Ferguson unless something really dramatic happens. Gone were the days when players used to scramble to come to the 'Theatre of Dreams'. Gone were the days when we could easily attract world beaters like Ferdinand, Keane, Irwin, Schmeichel, Cantona, Stam, Van Nisterooy, Veron, George Best, Van Persie etc.

Don't get me wrong, we have more than enough money to spend. Our Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, in July 2014, stated that United have got the resources to join the elite band of clubs capable of spending such vast sums

“Of course it’s within our capabilities,” he said. “Are we afraid of doing that? No.

“The reality is that we’re not afraid of spending significant amounts of money in the transfer market".

But there is more to deals than money. When a player wants to join an elite club, the important factors, in no particular order, are:

(a) The manager and his management;

(b) Wages;
(c) Ability of the club to challenge/win trophies especially in Europe;
(d) Opportunities to be on the pitch (competition for places);

(e) Colleagues he will be playing with;

(f) History of the club 

Elite players usually want to play under a coach who has an excellent track-record of winning trophies and continues to have intense desires to win things.  Manchester United, with Sir Alex as manager, was an entirely different proposition to Manchester United without him (as we saw with David Moyes). 

Stars, like Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa signed for the 'Red Devils' with Sir Alex's management being the single most important reason for their moves. With Van Gaal, I don't think we have a problem in this area because he also has a great pull-factor. Wages too won't be too much of a problem either.

So what seems to be the problem, why is or was the club not able to attract the likes of Vidal, Fabregas, Sanchez, Hazard, Bale, Modric etc in the last 3 or more transfer windows?? 

The damaging truth is that we are no longer guaranteed success on the pitch like we once were. We are no more the the Perennial favourites for the English Premier league (EPL) title. We are no more that dominant team in Europe which made at least the semifinals of the Europe elite completion 4 times in 5 seasons. We are now one of top four clubs in the EPL who are striving to be the best. It seems the elite players don't want to risk coming to a club in a very competitive league with no convincing guarantee of trophies, that's the reason I think they prefer to go elsewhere.

Instead, we are being used by top stars as bargaining chip to get a better deal at their current club. Several players have done the same in recent years, most recent being Dani Alves. Simply put, as Andy Mitten said, we do not have the pulling power we once had to attract the top stars. United are not top of the transfer chain. 

Van Gaal has to do a 'better job' than what he did in his first season to ensure this alarming situation is curbed. I fully believe the Dutchman can return this Great Club back to where all want to be.

Thanks for reading