Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant claimed Manchester United’s identity had been “broken” yesterday in the wake of the departures of Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley.
Mike Phelan questioned whether United were in danger of ushering in a new era of short-term thinking by spending heavily on proven stars at the expense of nurturing home-grown talent after Welbeck signed for Arsenal for £16 million and Cleverley, his England team-mate, joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan.
As Radamel Falcao promised to bring “happiness, goals and titles” to Old Trafford after completing his loan move from Monaco, the Colombia striker becoming the sixth signing of a summer in which United spent an unprecedented £156.3 million, Phelan expressed concern about the direction his former club was heading.
Phelan failed to acknowledge that United’s outlay comes as a response to years of under-investment in the squad under the Glazer family’s stewardship and that Ferguson had never been averse to breaking transfer records.
Louis van Gaal, the United manager, has also demonstrated a willingness to blood youth, with Tyler Blackett and Reece James, among others, making their debuts under him, but Phelan’s remarks will resonate with some fans saddened by Welbeck’s departure.
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“Danny Welbeck has been part of United’s identity and that has been broken,” Phelan, who was Ferguson’s No 2 from 2008 to 2013, said. “What will happen in the future, nobody knows but that thread has been broken now.”
In a thinly veiled reference to Manchester City and Chelsea, both of whom have spent lavishly in recent years, Phelan added: “There is always the start of something and maybe this is the start of a new way of doing things at Manchester United and maybe that is the way football is going. Is it better to look at the instant rather than the future? It is a difficult one because youth is always the future, we all have to start somewhere.”
Although Welbeck — who had been with United since he was eight — was criticised for not scoring enough, he never played a full season as a central striker at Old Trafford and, at 23, has his best years ahead of him. Given that Robin van Persie is 31 and has a poor injury record, Wayne Rooney is 29 next month and has had his own fitness issues and Falcao is 28 and returning from another serious knee injury, Phelan is not the only one to have questioned the longer-term ramifications of allowing Welbeck to leave.
“He is still only a young player and with young players you will get peaks and troughs,” Phelan said. “I think he chose Arsenal because they give him the opportunity to play in his best position, which is a striker. Arsenal is a fabulous club, it is a well-run club.”
Cleverley, whose loan to Villa was ratified at a Premier League meeting yesterday even though the paperwork was submitted around 30 minutes after the extended 1am deadline had passed, hopes the move will help to kick-start his career after becoming a scapegoat among some United supporters for the club’s weaknesses in midfield.
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Villa had a £7.5 million bid for Cleverley accepted last week but the situation was complicated by the player’s desire to move to Everton. Yet with United unwilling to let him join a top-four rival, a switch to Goodison Park failed to materialise and Villa — deeply frustrated by the developments — ended up settling for a loan.
“Playing football is what matters most to me and I’m looking forward to getting back to what I know I can do,” Cleverley, who is out of contract at United next summer, said. “This is the kind of club where I can do that.”