Real Madrid's Galactico policy has been somewhat of a failure
With Man City having begun their annual spending spree, a section of our fans appear to have gone into over drive.
The clamour for big name and big money signings has increased and the World Cup has made this worse as the fans are desperate for us to regain our title but is it realistic or even necessary at Old Trafford?
I’m not a hypocrite and I am well aware we have a guy that writes for this site called ‘The Transfer Muppet’ who loves all the gossip and seeing us linked with players etc but if we go out and buy half of the world’s professional footballers like certain clubs look to do and some fans would like, I personally can’t see how it benefits us.
Looking at our side if we are honest we don’t need to go on a spending spree. The definite 1 position that we have a vacancy for is a creative midfielder and perhaps a back up striker (even that isn’t definite as we are yet to see how Javier Hernandez deals with the Premier League). Many talk about a new goalkeeper to replace van der Sar but realistically which top level goalkeeper will come and sit on the bench for a season until VDS retires?
We are well equipped all over the field, looking at midfield for example we have Anderson and Michael Carrick who underperformed last season, Owen Hargreaves who missed last season with injury and Darron Gibson and Gabriel Obertan who were finding their feet. It would only take half of these mentioned players to perform to be in a better position than we were last season.
I’ve even said before about using Bayern Munich’s model of mixing youth with already established players plus a big signing here or there. I think this would be more satisfying and would be in line with the club’s usual method of cultivating our own talent.
I’m not here trying to be holier than thou, I’m just like you and would love to see a signing or two but only those we need. We aren’t Real Madrid or Man City (thank God!) throwing cash at any club with a decent player but not actually addressing our problems. There is no place for wasted money especially with our current financial situation. If we can still succeed with this shrewd business plan it will show those fans who think the game of football operates like “Football Manager” as well as clubs like Real Madrid and Man City that you can find success without buying a whole new team.
Thanks Micky for a reasoned and civil comment from a City fan – a seemingly rare occurence.
You have a valid point that a new money club will have to be aggressive and risk failure in some signings. That being said, I don’t think being new money has to entail demonstrating a lack of respect to other clubs or to its existing players as well as being unreasonably impatient as City’s management and ownership have shown. While you may seem content with your team’s progress, don’t forget you were in the a similar position mid-season which got your manager fired.
Some signings, like the ones so far this summer are simply from willing clubs and City are willing to pay inflated fees and/or player salaries. City are allegely paying Y. Toure the highest wage in the EPL which is insane. But that’s City’s perrogative I guess. However, there have been several signings where they are simply hostile and people’s disgust towards City is justified. Lescott, Bellamy (if you remember Redknapp’s allegations) and Kaka (attempted) come to mind.
You mention United would’ve been happy to take Silva and Toure which is probably true, but those would fill actually needs. In signing Toure, you’ve likely reduced DeJong and Kompany to non-starter roles which is a crime from a neutral perspective. That also brings up how City treat their academy and long-term players, but that’s another issue.
You say United are more comparable to Real, to which I’d agree in terms of history and accomplishment; but when it comes to the topic of this article which is Galactico signings, you’d be hard pressed to ever find a time when United had an insatiable appetite to pay any fee for as many stars as possible.
City is certainly a great place to get paid, but whether it is to play for, you should ask guys like Dunne, Robinho and shortly Ireland, Stanta Cruz, Bellamy …