Just one week remains until the Premier League 2014/13 season kicks off, and I can’t help but think Sir Alex’s last minute signing of Van Persie was a huge mistake in trying to catch up with Manchester City.
Personally, I think it was not only sign of desperation, but also a very bad signing in general.
For years, Man Utd and Sir Alex Ferguson have had a policy of not splashing out on any signings over 27 years old. It happened with Berbatov (27) in 2008 when Utd spent £30 million on bringing the Tottenham forward to the club, and in many accounts that failed.
The problems with Man Utd signing Van Persie are three-fold: price, squad problems, and a poor management of resources.
First of all, £24 million for a 29 year old who has a history of being plagued with injuries seems dodgy. Add to the fact he had only 1 year left on his contract at Arsenal, and that he had a poor showing at Euro 2014, makes me feel like Arsenal have got the better of this deal. His realistic transfer price should be around £15 – £20 million. Even though he was last season’s Premier League top scorer and carried Arsenal into a Champions League place, there are no guarantees that he will have the same success at Man Utd.
Secondly, having signed Van Persie, Utd now have 5-6 strikers in their squad. This will not only hinder the growth of Wellbeck, 21, (who had a breakthrough season at Utd and England) and Hernandez (24), who will both start from the bench, but it also makes players such as Berbatov and Kagawa redundant.
The cynic in me says that Sir Alex looked back at his 2nd place failure last season and decided he needed more goals in his squad. Van Persie scored 37 goals for Arsenal last season and if you look back at his record then he guarantees you a minimum of 20 goals next season.
The other problem I have with this big signing is that Man Utd’s biggest lack of cover is in midfield. Sir Alex cannot expect Giggs (38) and Scholes (37) to play an entire season, and while Cleverly has returned from injury, Utd still desperately lack an attacking midfielder such as Frank Lampard, Yoann Gourcuff or Eden Hazard. Kagawa is an attacking winger, but Utd are still desperate for someone to bring in and boss the midfield. Even Alex Song, Yohan Cabaye or Tiote would have been a top signing.
The bookies currently favor Man City to win the Premier League, (Bet365 offers 5/4) which is expected considering they are the Champions. I do think it will be an interesting season with so many new managers in the League (Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Norwhich, Swansea, West Brom and Aston Villa all have new managers), which makes it hard to predict, however I think Utd should be favorites considering they have added more to their squad then City. Kagawa and Van Persie combined with an improved young Phil Jones, De Gea and the return of Cleverly and Vidic from injury should be a huge boost for them. I still think if Vidic hadn’t been injured last season then Utd would have won the title and progressed much further in the Champions League.
