What can Man United learn from flops Van de Beek and Sancho?

It's been a trying transfer window for Manchester United so far, but one that should give new minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe a good idea of ​​what needs to change at Old Trafford.

The British billionaire and chairman of INEOS, who is not yet in charge of football operations but is still in charge of developments until his 25% stake is ratified, saw players worth of more than £100 million forced out as they sought to revive their careers elsewhere. .

Two examples include Donny van de Beek, who was signed for £40m from Ajax in 2020 and has now joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan, and Jadon Sancho, a £73m signing from Borussia Dortmund in 2021, who agreed to a temporary deal to return. at his former club until the end of the season.

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On the surface, both seemed like good additions only to disappear a few years later as a complete disaster. This raises a question that is difficult to answer, but one that Ratcliffe and his team, led by INEOS director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford, must do their best to resolve: are Van de Beek and Sancho always doomed to failure or should they be singled out? at the club? Simply put, were they bad signings or good signings that were made bad by United?

This is an extreme example, but what would have happened to, say, Jude Bellingham's career if he had chosen a different path? His sliding doors moment came in March 2020 when United and Borussia Dortmund agreed a fee with Birmingham City for the teenage midfielder.

Bellingham eventually chose Dortmund and, 3 and a half years later, he is at Real Madrid and is considered one of the best players in the world. Still only 20 years old, he was included in the FIFA World XI this week. Perhaps Bellingham is so good that nothing could have stopped his trajectory and, had he joined United in the summer of 2020, he would still have been named among the 11 best players in the world in January 2024 alongside Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland. . But maybe not.

Perhaps instead of a glitzy ceremony in London, Bellingham would remember January 2024 as the month he returned to Birmingham on loan. It seems far-fetched, knowing what we're doing now, but you'd say the same about Sancho if you were told when he arrived at Old Trafford that in 2 and a half years he'd be back at Dortmund.

Even Gary Neville, a boyhood United fan who won everything during his nearly 20-year playing career at the club, is beginning to doubt himself.

“I spoke to players before they came here to say you'll never regret it, it's a magical football club, looking back it's very bad advice,” Neville said after the 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

“Other players who have chosen other clubs have had great success. Think of Jude Bellingham. Well done to him, he chose Dortmund and is now one of the greatest players in the world.

“What would have happened if he had come here? I don't know, maybe he would be successful but I'm not so sure because of the culture.”

There is evidence to suggest that the problem is not always with the player. Of United's 10 most expensive signings, only one – Bruno Fernandes – comes close to looking like a success. For a few others, like Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Casemiro, the jury is still out, but the rest (Paul Pogba, Antony, Harry Maguire, Sancho, Romelu Lukaku and Ángel Di María) will all be considered costly mistakes .

Pogba left on a free transfer in 2022, but in 2018 he was part of a France team that won the World Cup while Di María won it with Argentina in 2022. Lukaku has scored 64 goals in 95 games at Inter Milan after leaving United (although that was followed by an ill-fated move to Chelsea) and Maguire was part of an England team that reached the European Championship final in 2021.

Not every situation is the same, but the one thing that connects them all is a big move to United followed by a string of disappointing performances. This has happened so often in the 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired that it can't just be down to the players. There is, however, a different perspective.

Asked this month what went wrong for Van de Beek and Sancho, manager Erik ten Hag suggested it all comes down to character. Either a player can cope with the pressure of playing for United or they cannot.

“It always depends on these players and how confident you are in your abilities,” he said.

“I can tell you one thing: the Premier League is difficult, Manchester United, it's difficult to play there because it's easier to play for almost any other team than Manchester United because the pressure is still so high.

“We have to manage that. It depends from one player to another, and it depends above all on the character of the player, his personality.”

Dortmund manager Edin Terzic hinted at something similar this summer when speaking about Sancho's struggles. Asked if he was surprised Sancho failed to recreate his form in Germany while at United, Terzic replied: “Not really. If you wear a price tag and a jersey from Manchester United, it's maybe a little heavier than the BVB jersey. “If a young player goes to Manchester United, of course the pressure is a little greater. “

However, that doesn't explain how Bellingham and Haaland were able to fit in seamlessly at Real Madrid and Manchester City, respectively, after leaving Dortmund.

What if Van de Beek and Sancho had done things differently? Van de Beek, on the Ballon d'Or shortlist in 2019, almost joined Real Madrid and Sancho was, at one point, also keen on a move to Spain. Would Maguire now be considered a success if he had joined City – who were after him at the time – instead of United when he left Leicester in 2019?

City eventually opted for Rúben Dias a year later – a player United also looked at – and this week he was another named in FIFA's best XI after helping Pep Guardiola's side win five trophies in 2023.

Maguire would probably say it's been easier for Dias to fit into Guardiola's winning machine than a team desperately trying to rediscover past glories, but you can't ignore the stark differences in how they've behaved since their arrival in Manchester. Maguire, still the world's most expensive defender at £80million, was available for transfer in the summer and almost joined West Ham.

The new shareholders will have a lot on their plate when they finally get the green light to make decisions and recruitment will be at the top of the list. There will inevitably be changes to the way United identify players, but also the focus will be on creating a conducive environment for them to come into. Van de Beek and Sancho saw bright futures extinguished during their time at United and, more than anything else, Ratcliffe needs to understand why.