Should Manchester United Fans Be Excited About Their New Signings?

This image is a derivative of Manchester United, by Paul (CC BY 2.0)

No one in their wildest dreams would have imagined that Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2012 would have left such a gaping hole at Old Trafford. It's been 7 years since Manchester United lifted the Premier League title, and it looks like it’s surely going to be a few more with the way things stand at the moment. 

Last weekend, it was none other than former manager Jose Mourinho who handed Manchester United their joint-worst ever defeat in Premier League history as Tottenham won 6-1 at Old Trafford. Bruno Fernandes’ 2nd minute penalty proved to be fruitless as Spurs routed the 20-time champions in what can only be called a defensive horror show.

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The Red Devils have had four managers since Ferguson’s departure (not including Ryan Giggs’ 4-game tenure) and not one of them have come close to having the same impact the Scotsman enjoyed at United. While they have gone through patches of good form and won 3 trophies (Europa League in 2017, and the FA Cup and English League Cup in 2016) since 2012, they have not been able to have that stretch of consistently good results nor pushed themselves into a legitimate title charge.

One of the reasons might have been because of the lack of faith and time given to each of the new managers. 

It was ‘The Special One’ who lasted the longest and was the most successful as well with two major trophies won under him. Interestingly, his win percentage was at 58.33%, just below Ferguson's 59.67% but of course, Mourinho was in-charge for less than 10% of the Ferguson tenure.

While the debate around the managers is a question for another time, let’s focus on present day United for now. 

A day after their loss against Tottenham, United went all-out on transfer deadline day purchasing Edinson Cavani, Alex Telles, Facundo Pellistri and Amad Diallo. 

Cavani, the highly decorated Uruguayan veteran, is the biggest signing amongst the quartet, yet critics have questioned the acquisition due to his age (33) and his recent injury concerns. Last season, Cavani was limited to just 4 goals and a couple of assists in 14 appearances and played no part in PSG's Champions League Final loss to Bayern Munich. There's also the question of where Cavani fits into United's ideal team, or whom he might replace should he earn a starting spot. 

On the other hand, Cavani could provide the much-needed experience in the forward line. While the trio of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and teenager Mason Greenwood have been fantastic for the Red Devils, especially in the latter part of last season, they've all looked a bit shaky so far this season.

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United did had more than reasonable success when another veteran in the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic  joined them in 2017. Despite age not being on his side, Cavani could prove to have a similar impact for the Red Devils this season if given the opportunity. 

A clinical finisher, who is great from set-pieces, Cavani became the first player to score 200 goals for PSG in February this year. According to WhoScored, 78% of his goals came from inside the penalty box, which illustrates his ‘poacher’ abilities. 

Given his age and the injury issues he faced last season, we could probably expect him to start on the bench more often than not and come on in the second half to try and make an impact. Interestingly, in the UEFA Champions League, 27 out of the 49 goals he has scored have arrived in the second half, out of which 9 have come in the last five minutes of the game. 

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Alex Telles will hope to replace Luke Shaw on the left flank and provide some more stability in that position after a few mishaps by the English international. Telles has had a stellar career in Portugal so far and assisted 8 times last season, out of which 6 were from corners. Considering United’s poor conversion rate from set-pieces (just 4 last season), Telles could prove to be incredibly helpful in such situations.

Facundo Pellestri came in from Uruguayan outfit Penarol in a £9m deal. While Solskajer has admitted that he is one for the future, we could see the 19-year-old tear up the Premier League in (possibly) the limited number of chances he gets this season. While he has scored just 1 goal and provided 2 assists for Penarol in his career so far, with United failing to land Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, Pellestri could provide the speed and attacking capabilities on the right flank. 

United will be able to call upon Amad Diallo in January, and will potentially be paying close to £40m to purchase the talented teenager. Diallo became the first player born in the year 2002 to score in the Serie A when he did so for Atalanta against Udinese last October. While the expensive price-tag has been queried, the Ivory Coast teen could be an exciting signing for the Red Devils. He's showed his prowess for Atalanta's brilliant under-19 team being involved in 11 goals last season.

United’s run of form at the end of last season gave fans a glimmer of hope. However, that hope now seems to have been squashed after a poor start to the new season which has seen them ship 11 goals and they find themselves in 16th spot on the table.

Are the new signings going to have a positive impact on the club, or is it going to be a similar story of hard times for this once phenomenally successful club? 

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