As the new Premier League campaign draws closer, it would appear that the new Manchester United manager David Moyes is no closer to finding that elusive world class marquee signing he desperately desires. A quality creative midfielder is now a necessity required rather than a luxury wanted. It is an area of the team which many Manchester United supporters have felt required attention over the past few seasons. Some have argued recently that the Manchester club have lost some of their pulling power with the loss of not only manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but also former Chief Executive David Gill.
It is a flawed argument however, as the void in the centre of United’s midfield was not lost on the outgoing United manager who also struggled to rectify the problem by luring a player who possessed the required creative qualities. Ferguson and Gill together suffered a number of failed attempts to address the issue following snubs from players such as Wesley Sneijder, Luka Modric, Lucas Moura and Eden Hazard. All of whom would have added that much needed creative spark to an otherwise workmanlike but bland central midfield area. Moyes has continued where Ferguson left off, although not in the way he would have hoped. Instead the midfield problem is one that appears to give him the same type of headache it gave his fellow countryman.
Thiago Alcantara has opted to join his old coach Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich, whilst any deal to bring the brilliant Cesc Fabregas back to the Premier League in United colours is diminishing by the day. And so, both players have added their names to an ever increasing list of playmakers who have decided against plying their trade at the Theatre of Dreams. Manchester United are widely regarded to be in that somewhat vague category of ‘biggest clubs in the world’ which arguably features only three others, including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. So it must be asked why United continue to miss out on player after player whilst the other three European giants snap up the world’s top talent.
Barcelona have already added the brilliant Brazillian Neymar to their squad this summer in a €50 plus million deal while Real Madrid may yet snap up Premier League double Player of the Year winner Gareth Bale in what looks set to be a world record transfer deal. As earlier stated, Bayern have signed Thiago from Barcelona and snatched German international prodigy Mario Gotze from Budesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund in €21 million and €37 million deals respectively. Manchester United’s pulling power isn’t equal to that of their European counterparts which many have blamed on everything from the Glazers, to the British tax rate to the Manchester rain.
However, if David Moyes is to correct what is slowly becoming his biggest problem as manager of Manchester United then he is going to need to display a quality which shows him capable of landing the big Hollywood names, a quality which sadly even the great Sir Alex Ferguson might have lacked in recent years.