Ineos didn’t have a high bar to clear in terms of competence when they took over the operations at Manchester United from the Glazers, but David Ornstein’s latest update is still cause for optimism.
The transfer window is picking up the pace again after Bryan Mbeumo’s negotiations caused it to come to a standstill.
Not only has Mbeumo arrived at Man Utd, but a big departure has been sealed in the form of Marcus Rashford to Barcelona.
The window is by no means finished here, with United targeting a goalkeeper and a striker as priority. Viewed from that lens, David Ornstein’s latest update is cause for optimism.
Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty ImagesDavid Ornstein on Man Utd’s transfer philosophy
So far, Man Utd have secured two deals, with Diego Leon and Enzo Kana-Biyik signed in January but arriving in July.
Both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo are Premier League-proven players, but that is more Sir Alex Ferguson’s transfer philosophy than anything revolutionary.
It’s a welcome change that will hopefully have positive effects on the pitch, but, as per David Ornstein, they’ve made as big a change in their approach off the pitch as well.
The Athletic report that Man Utd will no longer advance on any deal with a club unless they know in advance that the player’s desire to join is clear and obvious.
While that might seem an obvious thing to do at first glance, the bar of competence was really low under the Glazers, as written above.
Man Utd fans will never forget the club spending the whole window negotiating with Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong, before realising the player wasn’t keen on the move. They agreed a deal worth £80m with the club, only for the player to reject them at the end, wasting the whole window.
While that is an extreme, United’s transfer history also has other examples where a player not particularly keen on moving to Old Trafford had his head swayed by the amount of money on offer.
Nobody at Man Utd will remember Alexis Sanchez, Angel di Maria, or Frenkie de Jong fondly.
This clear philosophy by Ineos might seem like the bare minimum, but it will ensure that no embarrassments like in the past happen again.
A cultural reset will happen under Ruben Amorim
It goes without saying that if United walk away at the slightest hint of hesitation in the player, it will directly improve the dressing room culture.
If everyone at the club is there because of a genuine want instead of monetary factors, or needed some convincing, then a single mercenary-type character can ruin the whole atmosphere.
Ineos’ hard stance on the player wanting to join has already been vindicated, as both Cunha and Mbeumo went out of their way to only play for the club.
Thus, the pull of the club in the market gets renewed vigour, the cultural reset is underway, and the manager will not have any problematic characters to deal with.
It’s a simple change driven by common sense, but common sense wasn’t so common under the previous regime.