When speaking on a podcast recently, former centre forward and England captain Gary Lineker named three former United players he believes have been transformed by leaving the club, in a critique of the current state of the Red Devils.
As well as bringing in several new names under the still relatively new INEOS era, such as Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Matthijs De Ligt, to name a few.
However, United have also begun to adopt a slightly more ‘cut-throat’ approach towards transfers, with players now rumored to be given a two-year grace period to adapt and find form following signing for the club.
If signings still fail to perform after this period, United’s new transfer policy will then look to move on these players sooner rather than later to further avoid any stagnation amongst the team.
This has seen an increase in high-profile departures in the previous two seasons, with many of these players then going on to be successful at other clubs after potentially struggling to make their marks in Manchester, which Lineker has recently looked to highlight.
Lineker’s comments on ex-United trio
The recent success of some of United’s latest departures has been a hot topic of conversation amongst the media in recent times, with many beginning to question why it is that players begin to thrive once leaving Old Trafford.
The latest major media personality who has chose to weigh in on the debate, is no other than former England Captain Gary Lineker, who when speaking on The Obi One podcast, had this to say.
“United have, I mean, I think it’s a club in a bit of turmoil, in a mess because you can judge that by the players that are leaving.
“They all seem to pretty much all of them have done really well. Antony, Hojlund has started scoring. Yeah. I mean, so many, McTominay, brilliant.”
His words could arguably be seen as slightly harsh, but nevertheless, Linker is inherently correct in his evaluation of the performance of these players since leaving United, with McTominay going on to win the Serie A and player of the season over in Italy, as well as Højlund and Antony both becoming vital players for Real Betis and Napoli, respectively, after only really being viewed as squad players by the end at United.
Are United the problem?
With all the evidence against the club beginning to pile up, in the form of the rejuvenated performances of its former players since departing, are United to blame for players struggling to replicate this form in red?
Although it can be said that in the previous decade, United hasn’t exactly been a perfect environment for footballers to thrive and develop, with only a few being able to perform at The Theater of Dreams in this time frame.
This can largely be attributed to the poor management of the football club under the Glazer family’s ownership and the watch of former CEO Ed Woodward, who prioritized success off the pitch rather than on it.
However, despite this poor management and running of the club, I believe it would be unfair to completely attribute this to the club, as the pressure and weight of wearing the Red shirt can often be enough to get into players’ heads, preventing them from being able to play their best football.
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In the cases of Højlund and Antony more so rather than McTominay, this can be seen to be the case, as both still being young and early on in their development when arriving at United, the pressure and demands of playing for this football club seemingly may have got to them a little too much, which is now even more evident since departing to Betis and Napoli, both still big clubs in their on respect, but not United.
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