Manchester United missed out or chose not to follow up their interest in a number of targets this summer. But would their season actually have been improved? While we may never know for sure, I decided to look closer at each target’s season.
Stefan de Vrij: The Red Devils were always going to be linked with de Vrij. A young, Dutch, centre-back, it was almost inevitable. This season de Vrij hasn’t exactly made headlines in Lazio, but he has had a solid season nonetheless. He currently has a good 68% tackle completion rate and won 59% of his duels. He has enhanced his reputation as a ball playing centre-back with a pass completion rate of 82% while also making on average 43.2 passes per match.
Bruno Martins Indi: Again this transfer saga was inevitable for the exact same reason as de Vrij. However, Martins Indi has had a far more impressive season maintaining an extremely impressive 85% tackle completion rate. But winning just 55% of his duels, the Dutch international has also improved his distribution this season with an excellent 90% pass accuracy and completing, on average, 64 passes per match.
Axel Witsel: While Witsel may have seemed like an attractive, cheaper option to bolster Louis van Gaal’s struggling midfield, it seems he may have dodged a bullet in what has been a less than impressive season for the Belgian midfielder. It’s worth noting that he is also currently competing in one of the least competitive leagues in Europe. He has contributed a measly four goals and none assists in 26 matches, compared to Herrera’s six goals and four assists in just 25 appearances. The Zenit player has however made a good 88% pass completion rate, while picking up just ive yellow cards all season.
Arturo Vidal: Vidal is a different story, and one van Gaal may have been wished he managed to lure Vidal to Old Trafford. Vidal has made an impressive contribution with seven goals and four assists in 28 games in, what has been proved by Juventus’ amazing Champions League campaign, one of the top four leagues in Europe. The Chilean international has completed a good 84% pass accuracy to link Juventus’ defence and attack so effectively. The midfield general has also crucially contributed defensively for the Italian champions. He also has a tackle completion rate (84%) which most centre-backs would be proud of. The challenge for United is questioning how to lure an individual from Juventus, the Champions League finalists and league champions.
Wesley Sneijder: The old story of Wesley Sneijder to United, traditionally the go to story for most newspapers after a slow news day. Except this summer the rumours rapidly grew in their intensity and the stories led to expectancy of a move developing. Once again, the experienced Dutch number 10 had a solid season. Despite his advancing age he has still played 39 matches across all competitions for Galatasaray this season. He has scored an impressive nine goals in the current league campaign, but managed just two assists. At the minute, it seems Ed Woodward and his team made the right call in avoiding Sneijder’s signature last summer.
Would United Have Improved?
Obviously this question is purely hypothetical and realistically comes down to simple opinion. The defensive targets would have been welcomed with open arms bearing in mind for a period of time we were using Ashley Young as a left back and throughout the campaign we used Valencia as our first choice right back. I feel though that the midfield and attacking targets would likely have actually been a hindrance. We struggled enough at the start of the season to get our new signings to link with pre-existing players and getting them to buy into van Gaal’s philosophy and extra players would purely have made that period longer, and certainly more of a challenge for the coaching staff to deal with.
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