Man Utd: Club identity broken after Danny Welbeck exit Former Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan feels part of the clubs identity has been broken with Danny Welbecks departure to Arsenal.The England striker, 23, came through Uniteds famed youth system but joined the Gunners for £16m on deadline day. United brought striker Radamel Falcao on a £6m loan deal from Monaco, their sixth signing of the transfer window. They have probably lost the way of Manchester United a little bit, Phelan told BBC Sport.Now, rather than produce, it may be the case where they are buying in.Someone like a Danny Welbeck has been part of Uniteds identity and that has been broken.What will happen in the future now, nobody knows but that thread has been broken now.Former United midfielder David Beckham said he was sad to see Welbeck leave, but is hopeful promising players will continue to be developed under new manager Louis van Gaal. Manchester United have always bought players in but also have had a great scouting system which Sir Alex Ferguson put in quite a few years ago, where we did create home-grown talent, and that is something we have done over the years, said the former England captain. I think Louis van Gaal is a talented manager, he is well respected and with Manchester United this is a project that will hopefully last for a few years and be a successful one.Hopefully we have still got young players coming through.For many years United had a strong core of home-grown youth players under former boss Ferguson, with the renowned Class of 92 - which included Beckham, Paul Scholes and Phil and Gary Neville - coming through the ranks. As well as Colombian Falcao, new boss Van Gaal has also brought in Angel Di Maria for a British-record £59.7m, midfielder Ander Herrera for £29m from Athletic Bilbao, left-back Luke Shaw in a £27m from Southampton, the £16m Marcos Rojo from Sporting Lisbon and midfielder Daley Blind from Ajax for £13.8m. Meanwhile, United youngsters Tom Lawrence, Nick Powell and Michael Keane left on Monday, either on loan or permanently. However, defender Tyler Blackett, a youth academy product, has played in the Premier League this season, while defender Reece James and goalkeeper Ben Amos have been included in the matchday squad. Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville: Read more Its great that world class players like Falcao are coming to the Premier League. We lost Luis Suarez, we lost Gareth Bale and you just thought that maybe the pull of La Liga or the Bundesliga was greater than the Premier League. But I think weve proven now that this probably still is the greatest league in the world and its great that the best players are coming to England. But Phelan, who was Fergusons assistant between 2008 and 2013, believes the big-money arrivals at Old Trafford could suggest a change of philosophy at the club. 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, he added. 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 and you just hope that product of youth can develop in the Premier League.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 03:08:55 +0000
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