INEOS Mean Business in Their First Summer at Manchester United
INEOS wasted little to no time on the Joshua Zirkzee signing. A surprising Leny Yoro swoop soon followed. Is a new precedent being set?
As I spoke with my uncle this morning, I realized something perhaps a little more relevant than it might initially sound.
“We’ve signed Leny Yoro, he’s a young centre-back from the French league, looks decent,” I told him.
“Never heard of the lad,” he - an Arsenal fan, unfortunately - said in response. Fair enough, I suppose. Nor had I.
But then it dawned on me. I thought: “Hang on a second. Manchester United signed a player that I hadn’t previously heard of. When was the last time that’s happened?”
Of course, I’d heard his name earlier this summer as the inevitable whirlwind otherwise known as a United transfer window rumour mill began to unfold, but my previous knowledge of this young, 6-foot, 3-inch, French prodigy from Lille of Ligue 1 was quite literally nonexistent.
And, in recent memory, almost every big-money signing made by my club has been a previously established household name in European football.
Mason Mount. Casemiro. Jadon Sancho. Harry Maguire. Romelu Lukaku. Paul Pogba. Angel di Maria. All of these names are among those with the heftiest price tag paid by Manchester United over the last 10 years. And, bluntly, the casual fan knew who each of them was well before they debuted in United red.
So this change is refreshing. And a similar sentiment to that of the Yoro deal can be attached to the Joshua Zirkzee signing that got done last week, the first signee under the INEOS ownership (minority ownership, don’t forget. But a Glazers rant can wait for the first run of bad results to hit us later this year, as per).
And it might just be a significant signal of the changes taking place throughout the club.
You’ve heard it all by now. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Sir David Brailsford, Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox, Jean-Claude Blanc, etc, etc… there are new people in positions of power at Manchester United who appear to know what they’re doing and have begun the work to move the club back to the top of the footballing pyramid. The jury is now out on whether their early actions display the requisite competence that will pave the way for the consequent improvement. There’s your quick summary that saves us both some time.
The acquisitions of Joshua Zirkzee, and Leny Yoro, as well as the fact that both signings were completed by the middle of July despite a European championship tournament this summer, are all encouraging indications.
First, they’re not panic buys. It’s not Antony for a 95 million euro package at the end of the window. This displays proficiency, while that displayed desperation.
They’re also prospective signings acquired at an appropriate fee. Zirkzee is older and more experienced than last summer’s marquee arrival Rasmus Hojlund, and yet his price landed at just half of that of his new Danish striking partner. Yoro, too, cost over ten million less than Hojlund. Meanwhile, United appear unwilling to match Everton’s 70 million pound valuation of their young Jarrad Branthwaite.
Ratcliffe has stated that you can’t buy success. Nowhere has this held more true in football in recent years than at United. Top-class, elite, proven leaders remain a need for clubs looking to win in modern football. The quality of those at the top trickles down throughout the club and onto the pitch. The history and grandeur of Manchester United cannot overcome this fact, as the last decade has shown.
And a properly run club completes properly thought-through transfers. Well, a striker who just won Serie A’s best young player award, as well as a prototypical young modern centre-back whose services had also attracted Real Madrid and Liverpool, are certainly a pair of deals that leave tantalizing excitement among a Manchester United fanbase that has been deprived of capable leadership in the past several years.
You spelled soccer wrong