Erik ten Hag’s transfer record at Manchester United is nothing to write home about, to put it politely, and it looks like the club dodged a bullet after not going for another of his targets last summer.
Manchester United were in their first summer transfer window under Ineos last season, although the stability was still dicey since Erik ten Hag’s future was under question.
Nevertheless, Ineos’ signings have turned out to be better than whatever the club tried to do for Ten Hag before they arrived at the scene.
In no player is that phenomenon clearer than one who’s just been voted the “Flop of the Season” by the players in his league after joining last summer despite interest from Man Utd.
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
Bayern Munich’s Joao Palhinha has a season to forget
Last summer, United’s search for a defensive midfielder had them looking everywhere without settling on a major target.
Manuel Ugarte was the dream for the club, but not rated very highly by Ten Hag, and his price meant sales were needed to finance his purchase.
Ten Hag was pushing for Sofyan Amrabat to stay at Old Trafford permanently after the end of his loan spell, while there were fleeting links to Joao Neves.
Amidst all that, a player who kept getting linked to the club due to being Premier League-proven, was the then Fulham defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha.
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Not only had Palhinha impressed for Fulham, but his league pedigree plus Portuguese nationality made him the perfect fit for Man Utd’s dressing room.
Ultimately, Ineos’ call was final, as Scott McTominay was sold to finance Ugarte’s purchase, while Palhinha made his dream move to Bayern Munich instead.
After a nightmare debut season, German outlet Kicker has revealed that Palhinha has been voted as the “Flop of the Season” by his fellow players in the league.
Palhinha received 13.4% of the votes and Julian Brandt was second with 10.2%. Nearly 40% of the players abstained from voting, perhaps out of respect, which somehow makes Palhinha ‘winning’ this category even worse.
Player Vote%
Joao Palhinha 13.4%
Julian Brandt 10.2%
Victor Boniface 6.9%
Deniz Undav 5.6%
Xavi Simons 4.6%
Player vote% for 2024/25 Bundesliga Flop of the Season
Man Utd’s transfer template is clear
Palhinha’s failure to kick on and take his game to a new level further clears up Man Utd’s transfer template, where a coach can no longer make unilateral decisions.
Interestingly, Ruben Amorim has already soothed this fear of Man Utd fans for the upcoming transfer window, making it clear that he won’t drive the policy.
Ultimately, that’s for the best because managers at a club come and go, but the philosophy and style should come from the top.
That minimises disruption and the need to do full rebuilds every three years or so, something which Man Utd have suffered from since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
Ruben Amorim dodged a bullet because Ineos put their foot down in front of Ten Hag. That’s the way the club should be run.