I’ve seen some rather weird transfer rumours involving Manchester United over the years, and this week, the Red Devils were linked with a deal involving Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski. That got me thinking about whether this move would make sense…
In the end, I settled on the decision that a move for the Poland captain would be a bad idea for the Old Trafford club, so let’s take a deeper look as to why.
The first thing of note, this isn’t me suggesting that Lewandowski isn’t world-class; he clearly is. The Bayern Munich striker is up there in the upper echelons of European forwards, I just don’t think a move for him would suit Manchester United at this point in time.
https://twitter.com/LewySZN/status/967492267165605888
The Romelu Lukaku factor
Romelu Lukaku was signed for £75million less than a year ago. The former Everton striker represents the future of this great club. He’s scored 22 goals and tacked on 7 assists across all competitions so far. We’re only in February.
Imagine breaking the news to the 24-year-old that Lewandowski would be coming to the club and competing directly with Lukaku for a place in the team. He’d be distraught, and that alone could unsettle the big Belgian, who showed just how effective he can be against Chelsea at the weekend. He’s our future, not a player who’ll be 30 in a few months.
It’d hamper the development of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial
United’s talented core have already seen a minute reduction since Lukaku arrived but bringing in someone else would probably tip them over the edge. Don’t forget that when both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial broke into the first-team, they started out as strikers; and that’s likely where they both see their long-term futures.
Lewandowski would be another ‘big name’ signing purely for the sake of it
What I mean by that is, over the last few years, United have signed big-name players just to appease the fans, rather than thinking about the system and tactics that are in play. I look at moves for Angel di Maria, Radamel Falcao and to an extent, Juan Mata.
These guys became available and the Red Devils threw big-money at them, without really wondering just how they’re going to fit in. I know it’s early days in his career but I’m already seeing similarities with Alexis Sanchez, too. Mourinho needs to bring in players who suit his style of play, rather than building a team full of world-class players who just simply cannot play together.
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