As we watched Omari Hutchinson diddling Netherlands defenders, Charlie Cresswell barking at teammates ahead of a corner, Jay Stansfield running himself silly to close down defenders and make darts in behind the defence, Alex Scott running the England U21 midfield and James McAtee sliding unlikely passes through imperceptible gaps, in this the summer of The Impossible Manchester United Rebuild, we thought: Maybe just buy a load of these guys? Or, just Harvey Elliott.
The perceptive/cynical Red Devils fans must be concerned as they supposedly near the signing of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford for a fee similar to the £62.5m they paid Wolves for Matheus Cunha that they either won’t have much more money to spend on further significant squad surgery required this summer, or are kicking a huge potential PSR problem down the road by continuing to spend big and continuing to be balls.
After promising to be more savvy in the transfer market having taken over the club, after overpaying for pretty much everyone they signed last summer and selling the current best player in Serie A, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have made one very obvious transfer and are on the verge of another.
That’s not to say that either Cunha or Mbeumo will be bad signings for United, but they didn’t think the innumerable flops they’ve signed for similar or greater fees over the last ten years would be either. And there’s a danger that with both 26 years of age by the time the season starts that they – again, like seemingly many to have arrived at Old Trafford in the last decade – will consider their career complete having been handed four-year contracts worth around £200,000-per-week. They will never need to work again.
READ MORE: Liverpool fringe pair and Man City talent among England U-21 stars ripe for transfer
One would hope due diligence is done to assess the hunger of these players, but that desire wouldn’t be in doubt if United were instead signing teenagers or players in their early 20s on contracts deemed lucrative by them but not to the club, who have potential to grow in quality and – crucially – value. We thought that was INEOS 101 and page one of Project 150, but apparently not.
The Mbeumo deal’s not done yet, and amid reports claiming Amorim ‘wants to recruit at least two offensive players’ in what remains of the transfer window anyway, an admittedly left-field possible addition to fix United’s attacking problem was driving England to victory over the Netherlands to reach the U21 Euros final in stunning fashion.
Elliott was a man possessed here, as he has been throughout the U21 Euros – he might just be the best player in the tournament. His touch to take the ball away from the defender and his fierce shot into the roof of the net provided unambiguous evidence of his level above anyone else on the pitch to give Lee Carsley’s side the lead in the second half.
Manchester City’s James McAtee has been mooted as a ‘controversial’ possible signing for United, as Elliott would be for similar rivalry reasons, but possibly due to the greater experience of the Liverpool man in pressure situations or simply because of his superior quality, this wasn’t McAtee’s night, it was Elliott’s.
The playmaker has consistently stated his desire to fight for his place at Liverpool even after just 360 minutes of Premier League football last season, but the writing isn’t so much on the wall following the £116m signing of Florian Wirtz but drilled into it in 20ft-high letters: his Liverpool career is over.
Brighton are interested and will likely now be convinced he is worth Liverpool’s £40m valuation, as United should be because – let’s be clear – someone who’s not quite good enough for Liverpool is exactly the level of footballer the Red Devils should be targeting. Plus, he ticks every other box…
He’s a 22-year-old with a point to prove and plenty of room to grow, just shy of 100 Premier League appearances, ideally suited to that inverted winger role in Amorim’s 3-4-3, who currently earns just £40,000-per-week and can arrive and thrive to thoroughly f*** off a rival fanbase who could do with being knocked down a peg or two.
“If Lionel Messi had done this, the world would be stopping,” Joe Cole said while analysing Elliott’s second goal of the night, as the Liverpool star turned away from a defender 30 yards from goal, drifted past another, and another, before letting fly into the corner from the edge of the box.
It was superb, he’s great, and we suspect there will be a few more sporting directors asking for his agent’s number on the back of this quite wonderful display. Jason Wilcox should really be among them.
