Manchester United earned criticisms with the manner the team conducted their summer transfer business. For the most part, the side of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer failed to score blockbuster deals before the window closed and saw incredible targets such as Jadon Sancho and Kai Havertz slip away.
Sancho will remain for the season at Borussia Dortmund and Kai Havertz made the jump to the Premier League but is wearing Chelsea's shirt instead. It can be said that the two players not with the Red Devils in the ongoing campaign represent how the United board's approach in the transfer market proved ineffective.
And the case of Havertz highlighted the fact that United approached the market lacking in aggressiveness. Metro reported that the club inquired about the Germany international in January and was advised that the signing would cost no less than £90 million.
From then on, Bayer Leverkusen did not hear again from the Premier League giants and Chelsea ended up pursuing the promising midfielder. It was a long courtship but Frank Lampard had thought his efforts will pay off, and it did.
In effect, United lacked resolve in the attempt to acquire a player that has the potential to explode big time in England. As the same report indicated, Chelsea blew the Red Devils out of the water and it happened on the account that United did not try harder.
As the transfer deadline neared, United went into a panic mode and scoured the market for alternatives. This was done as it became clear that Dortmund will not budge on their asking price for Sancho, amounting to £103 million. Solskjaer checked out options elsewhere but ended up empty-handed.
There was even a time that Ousmane Dembele was thought to be in the bag since Barcelona would want the deal to get over the line. Again, the push coming from United was not enough for the agreement to be sealed.
In the end, Solskjaer was left to settle for last-minute deals that pundits viewed as hardly inspiring. The Norwegian can only hope that Sancho will be easier to grab next summer.
That happening though seemed unlikely as The Independent reported that the transfer window in the middle od 2021 will be a different landscape. It might be true that Sancho will be more willing to leave BVB but his destination is not necessarily Manchester.
The England international is tipped to deal with new clubs and Dortmund could prioritize making deals with Bayern Munich and Liverpool. The latter is said to be the preference of Sancho when the time comes that he is ready to return to the Premier League.
