Seldom in the history of Manchester United has there been a more underwhelming transfer rumour as yesterday’s story linking the club with a move for Liverpool back up player, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The 28-year-old is one of the most versatile players in the Premier League, having played in every single position except left back and centre back.
However, in the eyes of many, that makes him a jack of all trades and master of none and so Talksport’s report claiming United are interested in a £10 million deal for the player was something of a surprise to United fans when it broke.
“If Liverpool are willing to accept a knockdown fee of £10million, the Red Devils would be seriously interested in bringing Oxlade-Chamberlain across the north west,” the report claimed.
No disrespect to the Ox, but surely we must hope that this report is untrue.
United fans are fully aware that their club has fallen far behind Liverpool and Manchester City in recent years, despite finishing second in the league in 2020/21.
But we have always believed that the intention is to try to bridge that gap and return United to the superpower status it once enjoyed.
This story tells us the opposite: that Manchester United has accepted its own mediocrity and believes that a Liverpool reserve represents an upgrade on current options.
It can’t even be argued that the Red Devils are simply looking at Oxlade-Chamberlain as a squad player. He has that status at Liverpool. He wants to leave for more game time. Why would he swap the bench at a successful club for the bench at a struggling one?
Fans have watched as United have (seemingly) chosen not to compete recently for the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni, Dusan Vlahovic, Luis Diaz, Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland – all top drawer players who would surely have improved the United squad.
Of course, top players might prefer to play for a team that is in the Champions League, but when push comes to shove, that should not stop a club with the stature of Manchester United from getting their man.
There has also been the argument that some of those transfers were not pursued because the club wanted to wait for the new manager to be appointed, so that he could choose his squad.
But there is a growing sense that these may be excuses for a lack of ambition at Old Trafford and a growing acceptance of the club’s Europa League pedigree.
If that really is the case, then nothing will ever change until the club comes under new ownership – something many fans have been arguing for years.