LvG's transfers:
Player | Transfer fee paid (£m) | Age at purchase | Transfer fee received (£m) | Age at sale |
---|
Ángel Di María | 67.5 | 26 | | |
Luke Shaw | 33.75 | 19 | | |
Ander Herrera | 32.4 | 25 | | |
Marcos Rojo | 18 | 24 | | |
Daley Blind | 15.75 | 24 | | |
Vanja Milinković-Savić | 1.58 | 17 | | |
Radamel Falcao | 0 | 28 | | |
Danny Welbeck | | | 18 | 23 |
Shinji Kagawa | | | 7.2 | 25 |
Alexander Büttner | | | 4.95 | 25 |
Wilfried Zaha | | | 3.42 | 21 |
Bebé | | | 2.7 | 24 |
Patrice Evra | | | 1.71 | 33 |
Anthony Martial | 54.00 | 19 | | |
Morgan Schneiderlin | 31.50 | 25 | | |
Memphis Depay | 30.60 | 21 | | |
Matteo Darmian | 16.20 | 25 | | |
Bastian Schweinsteiger | 8.10 | 31 | | |
Ángel Di María | | | 56.7 | 27 |
Chicharito | | | 10.8 | 27 |
Jonny Evans | | | 7.47 | 27 |
Robin van Persie | | | 5.85 | 32 |
Nani | | | 5.4 | 30 |
Rafael | | | 2.88 | 25 |
Ángelo Henríquez | | | 1.5 | 21 |
Jose's signings:
Player | Transfer fee paid (£m) | Age at purchase | Transfer fee received (£m) | Age at sale |
---|
Paul Pogba | 94.50 | 23 | | |
Henrikh Mkhitaryan | 37.80 | 27 | | |
Eric Bailly | 34.20 | 22 | | |
Zlatan Ibrahimovic | 0.00 | 34 | | |
Morgan Schneiderlin | | | 20.7 | 26 |
Memphis Depay | | | 14.4 | 22 |
Paddy McNair | | | 4.73 | 21 |
Tyler Blackett | | | 1.62 | 22 |
Will Keane | | | 1.08 | 23 |
Romelu Lukaku | 76.23 | 24 | | |
Nemanja Matic | 40.23 | 29 | | |
Victor Lindelöf | 31.50 | 23 | | |
Alexis Sánchez | 30.60 | 30 | | |
Henrikh Mkhitaryan | | | 30.6 | 28 |
Adnan Januzaj | | | 7.65 | 22 |
Fred | 53.10 | 25 | | |
Diogo Dalot | 19.80 | 19 | | |
Lee Grant | 1.53 | 35 | | |
Daley Blind | | | 14.4 | 28 |
Sam Johnstone | | | 6.62 | 22 |
Marouane Fellaini | | | 6.48 | 30 |
Ole's signings:
Player | Transfer fee paid (£m) | Age at purchase | Transfer fee received (£m) | Age at sale |
---|
Harry Maguire | 78.30 | 26 | | |
Bruno Fernandes | 56.70 | 24 | | |
Aaron Wan-Bissaka | 49.50 | 21 | | |
Daniel James | 16.02 | 21 | | |
Romelu Lukaku | | | 66.6 | 26 |
Matteo Darmian | | | 2.23 | 29 |
Ashley Young | | | 1.53 | 34 |
Donny van de Beek | 35.10 | 23 | | |
Amad Diallo | 19.17 | 18 | | |
Alex Telles | 13.50 | 27 | | |
Facundo Pellistri | 7.65 | 18 | | |
Edinson Cavani | 0.00 | 33 | | |
Chris Smalling | | | 13.5 | 30 |
Timothy Fosu-Mensah | | | 1.53 | 22 |
Jadon Sancho | 76.50 | 21 | | |
Raphaël Varane | 36.00 | 28 | | |
Cristiano Ronaldo | 13.50 | 36 | | |
Daniel James | | | 26.19 | 23 |
Averages:
Manager | Net spend per season (£m) | Average age of outgoings | Average age of incomings | Players 21 or under | Amount spent on players 21 or under (£m) |
---|
LvG | 90.4 | 26.2 | 23.7 | 4 | 119.9 |
Mourniho | 103.74 | 26.5 | 24.4 | 1 | 19.8 |
Ole | 96.79 | 27.3 | 24.7 | 5 | 168.8 |
Ole's average net spend was higher than LvG's (as you'd expect after a few years of market prices increasing), but lower than Jose's. Overall, there wasn't much between the three of them in terms of net spend, so it's worth digging a bit deeper at the age/mentality profile of exactly who was bought.
Solksjaer's average age of incomings was obviously pushed up by the purchases of Ronaldo and Cavani. But I guess you could say the same for Jose bringing in Zlatan. The difference, however, is if you look at each of their transfers of players under 21. That's clearly what the focus was with Solksjaer. But whereas Ole only bought Ronaldo and Cavani as stop gaps for his youth players, Jose was all about putting all his eggs into a single win-right-now basket. Let's not forget, if Mourinho had had his way, we'd have also got a 30 year old Peresic for £50m.
Players like Sancho, Pellestri and Amad are top class prospects who Solksjaer was never going to have the opportunity to get the best out of. That's precisely what it means to leave a legacy. Ole put the club's interests before his own.
Then try comparing Ole to LvG. LvG bought the biggest lot of weak-willed mercaneries you've ever seen. That culture change from SAF set us back years. One of the hallmarks of a good transfer strategy is assessing your targets' mentalities. Louis obviously never got the message. United turned into Disneyland under his management.
That's not to say Ole's cultural reset hasn't been perfect since. Transfers are always going to be gambles. But at least he did buy players like Bruno, Varane, Ronaldo and Sancho who aren't shy about letting their teammates know when they've fecked something up. None of them are quite Roy Keane, but that's the ideal we were aiming for. If it's about leaving a legacy, building a squad like that is exactly what will teach our youngsters what it means to be a top player at a top club.