Question: when does the failure to land a prime transfer target become good news for a manager? Louis Van Gaal knows the answer.
Manchester United fans are today coming to terms with the news that they have once again missed out on a player, this time losing Renato Sanches to Bayern Munich. United have been tracking Sanches for some time, with The Guardian reporting that United had productive negotiations with Benfica regarding meeting his release clause of €60 million. The deal, it was thought, would be structured over four years, similar to the deal that took Anthony Martial to Old Trafford last August.
United have now missed out on Sanches to Bayern, who have snapped the player up for an initial fee of €35 million. (There will be a number of bonus payments relating to Sanches' success at Bayern). The deal, however, seemed more favourable to United, given how far negotiations have gone along with the identity of his agent:Jorge Mendes
Mendes' influence has been strong at Old Trafford for some time. Mendes has managed to creep into a powerful position at Old Trafford by exploiting the void left by the dual retirements of Alex Ferguson and CEO David Gill. Woodward has been out of his depth in the transfer market: for example, when United were launching a deal to sign Juan Mata, the club refused to negotiate directly with Chelsea for fear they would prise Wayne Rooney from Old Trafford.
Such incompetence has allowed agent Jorge Mendes to prosper, and the club have signed a number of players represented by Mendes since Gill and Ferguson left, including Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, the latter arriving on astronomical wages despite being plagued by injury. Mendes had been making his presence felt before this, presumably having a big hand in United signing his client Bebe, despite the fact that Alex Ferguson had never seen him play. You can imagine Woodward - under pressure to deliver blue-chip signings to please the fans of what will soon be the richest club in the world - delighting in the fact that Mendes had arrived and made these moves all the more straightforward.
The assumption has been that Mendes' strong working relationship with Woodward would inevitably end in United's appointment of his main client: Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho's relationship with his agent is extremely close: according to Diego Torres' book The Special One: The Dark Side Of Jose Mourinho, Mendes had his own office at Real Madrid's training base at Valdebebas, and it has appeared for some time that his agent's influence at Old Trafford would facilitate Mourinho's ascension to the job he craves more than any.
Mourinho is desperate to take over at Manchester United. According to Torres, Mourinho wept when he was overlooked as Alex Ferguson's successor in 2013, and has been agitating to replace Louis Van Gaal ever since he was sacked by Chelsea. According to the ever-reliable Miguel Delaney, Mourinho sent United a six-page letter promising the club he would change his better histrionic nature to adhere to United's principles. Reports have been emanating from Mourinho's camp for months regarding the United job, with a report from the aforementioned Diego Torres claiming that United have a pre-contract in place with Mourinho, and should he not be appointed by June 1st, they would owe him £10 million.
As time has dragged on without an announcement, Mourinho has put further pressure on the club via the media, with a report last month claiming that Mourinho would be happy to take over at Paris St Germain, a reminder to United to get their act together. Given Mendes' influence at Old Trafford and his client's obvious desire to take over, Mourinho to United has felt an inevitability for months, yet still nothing has been confirmed. Louis Van Gaal has grown increasingly bullish about his chances of staying in his job, saying last night that:
Now you are asking me about our opponents. It is the first time we are talking about our opponents and not about my sacking. Thank you very much for that.
Now, however, it appears Mendes' relationship with United has soured. There is, of course, a chance that this is an example of the player simply choosing to sign for Bayern over United. United, however, it would appear would have made more footballing sense for Sanches - regular first team football is far more likely, and United may well end up in the Champions League next year - and United's wages would be in line with the offer from Bayern. There is certainly a possibility that deal Mendes helped push a deal through with Bayern at United's expense.
Yet United continue to dally. There appears to be a schism at board level at United, with the 'football side', including Bobby Charlton and Alex Ferguson thought to be against the idea of appointing Mourinho.
If Mendes' relationship with United has deteriorated to that extent, it appears that Mourinho to United is not quite as inevitable as we thought.
