Manchester United’s decision to sell Anthony Elanga for £15m while rating Alejandro Garnacho at £70m illustrates the kind of errors that define their transfer missteps.
Manchester United are terrible at signings. That is no surprise. Their terrible history of post-Ferguson acquisitions is painfully familiar. However, they are arguably inferior in every facet of player sales, and insufficient emphasis is placed on how that disastrous failure has been more persistently harmful than subpar recruitment to their prospects for a significant rebuild.
They have never earned over £100m in a single season from player sales (four Premier League teams achieved this in just one season). They are the sole Premier League club whose highest sale happened prior to 2011. They still consider David Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid in 2003 as their fourth-biggest sale ever, and two players ahead of him – Angel Di Maria and Romelu Lukaku – were sold at a loss compared to their initial signing fees.
In short, it's completely ridiculous to believe they possess players valued at £310m, let alone that they will generate that much in sales and still retain a core squad for Ruben Amorim to utilize.
The previous summer was a hesitant move somewhat towards the right path. The £92m received from the transfers of Mason Greenwood, Willy Kambwala, Alvaro Fernandez, Donny van de Beek, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Facundo Pellistri, Will Fish, Hannibal Mejbri, and Scott McTominay was primarily pure profit and illustrated the tough choices a club willing to take risks or appear foolish was ready to make.
McTominay flourishing at Napoli offers a convenient tool for critics to target Manchester United, and there was more than a hint of being compelled regarding Mason Greenwood, whose real nature could not be hidden throughout the entire season in his ongoing professional battle between skill and effort.
However, in practical terms, Manchester United shouldn't be concerned about player activities after they leave, as long as the club is compensated fairly for allowing departures at the most favorable time. If Chelsea or Manchester City felt any regret when an ex-player later succeeded against them, it would need to be spread out over the next fifty years; capable clubs recognize it as part of the transfer process and proceed to the next transaction.
This is the reason Amorim is completely justified in avoiding tedious inquiries about Marcus Rashford and Antony weekly, allowing the Portuguese to overlook any irritation regarding their recently discovered confidence and skill after departing. For all practical purposes, they are considered unnecessary, and performing successfully on loan only increases Manchester United's prospects of obtaining a more favorable agreement.
However, selling Anthony Elanga for £20m while estimating Alejandro Garnacho’s worth at about £70m is the kind of monumental misjudgment across the management that will be hard to overcome.
Nottingham Forest's decisive goal at the City Ground secured their first league double against Manchester United in the Premier League era, serving as yet another late blow to Erik ten Hag's tenure. Elanga has repeatedly mentioned that the Dutchman was not the reason for his departure in July 2023, yet his statement “I just wanted to play” shifts the focus back to a manager who did not have that perspective.
Ten Hag prioritized Garnacho's growth instead, and partly due to FFP constraints after the failed Antony acquisition, Elanga had to be let go for a fraction of his worth.
And that is the mistake. It may seem straightforward to claim that Manchester United's choice to sell Elanga has proven to be an error due to his outstanding performance at Forest, yet the fundamental issue is stylistic: his excellence as a counter-attacking forward doesn't change previous doubts about his effectiveness against congested defences.
The issue will inevitably be the cost. It is astonishing that Manchester United only obtained a guaranteed £15m from a Premier League competitor for a forward who scored a Champions League knockout goal against Atletico Madrid just a year ago while Liverpool imposes an automatic £25m fee on any player.
However, the static picture of Garnacho lying on the ground, having collided with Elanga moments before the Sweden international successfully made his unchallenged run from one box to the other and scored with his less dominant foot, was compelling from a storytelling perspective.
Unsatisfied with the unfavorable comparison, Garnacho went on to deliver another performance that contradicted Manchester United's valuation. Most of the visitors' prime opportunities came his way, yet the Argentinean failed to direct a single shot on target from six tries, couldn't connect with a teammate on any of his seven crosses, continues to lack synergy on his side with Patrick Dorgu, and received a yellow card for kicking the ball away after being needlessly offside.
These Premier League matches are ultimately insignificant for Manchester United aside from an additional few million pounds in possible prize money, which may gain more relevance under Sir Jim Ratcliffe's cost-cutting policies but can never sway things as much as halting free meals or charity contributions. However, players cannot maintain that mentality under Amorim, who, like any other coach, will expect nothing less than excellence in every match.
Forest delivered abundantly to move ever nearer to an unimaginable Champions League spot. Ryan Yates excelled, Murillo brilliantly preserved Matz Sels' clean sheet in the last minute of stoppage time, and Nuno Espirito Santo demonstrated that Portuguese managers don't have to strictly adhere to a single formation by fluidly changing shape in the first half after Ola Aina's injury.
Yet again, Elanga was the unavoidable standout on a difficult night for Manchester United, and his friendly demeanor after the match only exacerbated the pain. "Arriving at Forest was all about playing," he mentioned. "I gained a great deal of knowledge at Manchester United." “I value them greatly.”
It's unfortunate that the sentiment wasn't shared when it was essential.
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