Can Manchester United Exist Among the Big Spenders?

It’s been a dream ride for Manchester United over the last few years and Paul Scholes was very right in describing Manchester United as a “fortress” hard to breach. Being the holders of the English Premier League the expectations from Manchester United are very high. Though they have not been able to win the UEFA Champions League in the last 3 years yet their domestic record is one to be envious about. The Scottish master Sir Alex Ferguson has taken the club to new heights. His reign as the Manager of Manchester United has been filled with light.

Red Devils with EPL 2010-11 Trophy

While many clubs in Europe (such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, etc.) believe in spending huge sums of money to get the ideal players for their club, Manchester United have a philosophy of their own. They like to invest in the future players and not on the superstars already. They have sound youth system which provides them with ample scope to groom tomorrow’s superstars. Who had heard about Christiano Ronaldo, Nani, Wes Brown, etc. before they were fielded in the Manchester United first team. But there is a serious concern on teams like Manchester United who rely on their youth talent. In the recently concluded transfer window we saw the debacle that Arsenal faced. Good players like Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas left the club seeing lure from high paying clubs. So far Manchester United, though have been able to keep most of their talents intact (barring the likes of Christiano Ronaldo and David Beckham who left for Real Madrid). Even when the club has lost key players, Sir Alex has ably replaced them.

David De Gea, Phil Jones & Ashley Young

In the 2010-11 transfer window Manchester United went about signing in players very silently. Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea (from Atletico Madrid for £17.8m), defender Phil Jones (from Blackburn for £16.5m) and midfielder Ashley Young (from Aston Villa for £16m) were drafted in. Ever since Javier Hernandez, the crafty Mexican and Danny Wellback have become commendable performers for the Red Devils.

They are doing quite well in their competitions. In the EPL they have won 6 out of their 8 matches and are just 2 points behind the leaders Manchester City. They have handed defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea already, but had to settle for a draw against Liverpool. But in the UEFA Champions their struggle continues as they had to settle for two draws in two matches against the likes of Benfica and Basle.

New Brigade is Already Showing Inspiring Signs

So whether they can have domestic and European glory this time around is a fact that only time will tell. But for now their team seems to be going in the right direction and the absence of Paul Scholes (their key playmaker) and Edwin Van Der Sar (their number 1 goalkeeper) is not been felt yet.