Only at Manchester United can a transfer window go badly, only to have such a move made that it turns out to be the biggest regret, while they net £8.6m.
That is the scenario that has unfolded with the transfer of Alvaro Carreras to Real Madrid, a transfer that has netted Man Utd about £8m due to a sell-on clause.
Erik ten Hag didn’t rate Carreras during a season in which it seemed a lottery was picked out on each matchday as to who would start at left-back.
Now that he’s set to play for the biggest club in the world, BBC’s Simon Stone has revealed why Ten Hag didn’t rate Carreras, and it’s a reason that should have Ruben Amorim fuming.
Alvaro Carreras and Cristiano Ronaldo in a Manchester United Training Session
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Why Erik ten Hag didn’t rate Alvaro Carreras
Ten Hag’s legacy at Man Utd was always thought to be safe because he gave the club what looked like a genuine superstar duo at Old Trafford.
Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho were his biggest success stories, but between Garnacho burning bridges with United, and Mainoo striving to find a role, that has taken on an asterisk.
Either can still come good, however, which can’t be said about the players he didn’t rate, the list on which Alvaro Carreras is increasingly sticking out like a sore thumb.
A year after selling Carreras for just £5m, Simon Stone has revealed why Ten Hag let it happen.
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Stone said (via BBC): “My understanding is Erik ten Hag felt Carreras was not quick enough for the Premier League and struggled against quick players – and that he was more suited to a back-three defensive formation.
“There was no queue of Premier League clubs looking at him, which is how he ended up on loan, first at Granada and then Benfica.”
Considering Ten Hag ended up playing players like Victor Lindelof at left-back for parts of the season, Man Utd fans can be forgiven for not buying into that reasoning.
More importantly, it sums up United’s transfer policy that they hired a back-three manager about four months after selling a player who, by their own admission, was perfect for the system.
Carreras is an example of an incoherent transfer policy
Carreras’ sale and the reasoning behind it sum up why United have been left behind in the transfer market from both selling and buying perspectives.
United, as a club, fail to buy players under a coherent transfer policy that isn’t turned on its head with each managerial appointment.
They continuously buy and sell for the manager in charge, which is why half of the squad becomes expendable every two or three years.
For all of Ineos’ promises, they are walking dangerously close to the same path, exiling four wingers (Garnacho, Antony, Rashford, and Sancho), and a full-back for a manager whose system has no place for either.
The unprofessionalism from most of these five players is a mitigating factor, but it’s extremely convenient that only those players have shown unprofessionalism who don’t have a clear role in the manager’s system.
Every fan is hoping and praying that Amorim is a success, because otherwise, the next manager, if he doesn’t play with a back three, will find himself short of wingers and overloaded at centre-back.
And the cycle goes again to rebuild while selling unmovable players. Carreras is the personification of a flip-flopping transfer approach.