Manchester United and Manchester City have both splurged astronomical amount of money in the past few seasons with little going their way in terms of titles. Not only players, but the Manchester outfits have invested heavily on their managers too, who haven’t wasted time in bringing in England, chunk of best talents from across the globe.
The trend has continued this summer too with Manchester United bringing in Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku and Pep Guardiola getting in Kyle Walker, Danilo, Benjamin Mendy, Ederson, Bernardo Silva and Douglas Luiz. And before we go into who has done the better business let us see if they have implemented the success formula.
The likes of Chelsea and Leicester City winning the title in the last three seasons despite the astounding expenditures of Manchester clubs clearly indicates one thing, their investments have been wrongly placed. While Leicester City’s title-winning season could be credited to sheer luck after recent results, Chelsea’s have been exemplary in many ways. And the one thing that the London side have done both in 2014 and in 2016 was to get the right players.
Having his previous pleasant experiences in the Premier League, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea buys in 2014 were closely monitored by many. The Portuguese had brought in five players – Felipe Luiz, Diego Costa, Loic Remy, Didier Drogba and Cesc Fabregas. And a nearer look at them clearly says his preference for a winning side.
The 2014-15 Premier League Champions had brought in either strong and combative individuals or veterans of the league. And now with Manchester United, he has been trying the same thing. While last season saw him bringing in the huge Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, this summer saw Lukaku and Lindelof. And given that Mourinho is the more successful manager in the Premier League than Guardiola, it is safe to say he has seen his tactics working most times in England that his Spanish counterpart.
City, on the other hand, have repeated the same mistakes again this summer. Despite having their most impactful player in a rugged Yaya Toure over the past few seasons, who could make a special mark mostly because of his top-level experience and huge frame, Guardiola has again opted for nascent talents who have had one or two good seasons abroad and are comparatively smaller in frame.
While last time he had brought in the likes of Leroy Sane, Nolito and Ilkay Gundogan, this summer saw Mendy, Silva and Danilo. Walker remains hopeful of delivering the needful surely but the rest remains highly sceptical for the fans and for us. The best signing for them could have actually been Dani Alves, who had the experience and quality to play at the highest level, but the Sky Blues could get a Danilo instead.
We aren’t considering the number of arrivals as a parameter for judging here as City had to release numerous players at the end of last season and needed a refill. Still, United definitely have the edge over their rivals in the kind of business they have done so far.
