If one were to create a list of “what ifs” at Manchester United, the squad will almost certainly beat the current team and Mike Phelan has just added a world-class name to the former.
The Man Utd transfer policy has been widely derided in the last decade or so for their propensity to dither and be indecisive in situations that require quick thinking.
Then, when the thinking is quick on occasion, cold feet avoid them splurging, only to do it later on a worse player or sometimes the same player at a higher cost (Hello, Marouane Fellaini!).
Mike Phelan has just added another glorious name to the list where the club scouts did their job but the Glazers failed them again. He’s dominating world football right now.
Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images
Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images
Mike Phelan reveals Ousmane Dembele Man Utd transfer story
Ousmane Dembele is currently busy bossing world football at both, the domestic and European level, hitting 30 goals in 37 appearances across all competitions as PSG remain en route to winning a treble.
Having come through the ranks at Rennais, he made one affordable move from Man Utd’s POV when he joined Borussia Dortmund but since then, his transfer fees have skyrocketed.
Phelan, speaking with Laurie Whitwell on his YouTube channel “The Mike Phelan Coaching Channel”, revealed that Dembele was on their radar when he used to be affordable.
He said: “He [Dembele] was on the radar, yeah. Good players are always on the radar. There were discussions that you had around the table. Certainly [he would have improved the team we had]. Ultimately, decisions higher up get made and maybe that’s budget, finance, who knows…”
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Ineos are addressing Big Man Utd problem
Dithering has cost Man Utd a shot at talents their capable scouts identified for them, from Moises Caicedo to Erling Haaland, among others.
Ineos have come in and straightaway sought to address this problem by becoming proactive in the market and cutting out the layers of approval.
Be it beating AC Milan to Joshua Zirkzee’s signature or beating Real Madrid to Leny Yoro, the examples are already clear.
Even at the youth level, the signings of Ayden Heaven and Chido Obi amidst intense interest from Europe is the kind of transfer the previous regime wouldn’t have managed to complete.
That dithering has put Man Utd into a hole they are currently struggling to climb out of. Phelan has just given fans another idea of what their team could have been.