Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man Utd transfer tactic ‘being ignored’ by current Prem bosses

On Jan 31, 2023

Sir Alex Ferguson’s transfer tactics that he used to bring success to Manchester United are being ignored by today’s Premier League bosses.

That’s the view of Red Devils legend Paul Ince who claims Fergie used to watch players develop for a few years before making a move. Unlike nowadays where managers are splashing enormous amounts on stars after seeing them flourish after just one season.

And Ince fears the fast-paced, inflated market will only get even worse in the ensuing years. He explained on Boyle Sports: “Sir Alex Ferguson used to look at players for two or three years before buying them to make sure they were ready to sign for Man United. Nowadays players are having one good season and going for £60million – it’s pure madness and will only get worse.”

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Fergie was responsible for bringing in the likes of Jaap Stam and Nani, who he turned into stars during his time at United. And along with patience, Fergie puts his transfer acumen down to instinct.

Speaking in a previous interview, the Scotsman revealed: “I believe in instinct. I had a good instinct about players and I had a good instinct about watching players who I maybe wanted to buy.

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That’s the view of Paul Ince who said Fergie used to watch players for years whereas managers pay inflated prices for stars they’ve witnessed perform well for one season
(Image: Neal Simpson/REX/Shutterstock)

“I knew that, looking at certain players, I could see traits that told me they were Manchester United players, or Aberdeen players, or St Mirren players. I could see that in certain players I watched. Instinct was really important. Also on instinct, sometimes it’s picking the team.

“We’re playing certain teams and I’d have an instinct: ‘right, I’m not going to play certain players. I’ll play other players.’ I wouldn’t say it’s intuition, I’d say it’s instinct.”

Sir Alex Ferguson picked out David de Gea as Manchester United’s long-term keeper
(Image: Getty Images)

Ince’s concern that the current crop of bosses aren’t following Fergie’s example comes after Everton initially slapped a £60million price tag on want-away star Anthony Gordon before he moved to Newcastle on Monday. But the Magpies were able to negotiate a lesser £45m with the Toffees, leading to Gordon’s departure from Goodison Park with fans happy to see the back of the winger.

However, Chelsea were willing to pay the incredulous £60m price tag for Gordon last summer before the move fell through. And the Blues have since splashed the exorbitant sum of Marc Cucurella, and are poised to pay a similar amount for incoming signing Christopher Nkunku this summer.