August comes with no signings and two bids for players from the same club. No, it’s not Manchester United’s summer transfer window ten years ago, but West Ham’s current window.
The common denominator is David Moyes. He has at least moved on from an incredible combined £28m bid for Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini, as bids for Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay were separate.
West Ham also look set to sign Edson Alvarez from Ajax, so the wait for their first signing won’t be as long as Fellaini’s arrival on the night.
But Moyes remains a distraction. At Everton, fans got to know the six stages of Moyes’ transfer strategy. Mull. Think about it. Consider: Land: Dieter: “Exciting Dave” stayed with Moyes at the London Stadium.
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He is also predictable. West Ham are the only major Premier League club to be interested in Maguire, and they have had a £30m bid accepted. Moyes remains the stickler for British workhorses, and the only surprise about McTominay’s offer was that it was sent so late.
McTominay is Scottish and his agent, Colin Murdoch, played under Moyes at Preston North End. Interest from West Ham was inevitable after Declan Rice took Arsenal to Lions Jubilee and Piccadilly.
In fairness to Moyes, he has faced internal conflict at West Ham. Head of recruitment Rob Newman has been usurped by new technical director Tim Steidten.
Steidten is believed to have recommended continental targets, while Moyes prefers proven Premier League options. Moyes wants James Ward-Prowse and West Ham failed to make a £40m bid for Conor Gallagher at Chelsea. That’s two more British midfielders.
United are in uncharted territory, receiving £60million packages for two players after nearly every member of the squad was unmarketable this time last year. Even Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t make it to any of the major leagues.
For once, United are not a club that has had more than one barrel. McTominay was never sold and Coby Mayo’s ankle injury means only a truly compelling offer will change United’s stance.
Maguire, however, had to be traded before the winter. United have handled his situation delicately and Erik Ten Hag insists he is a valuable member of the squad. Maguire’s responsibility has always been to decide whether he stays or goes, as Ten Hag has repeatedly stressed.
For a while, Maguire and those around him were in denial about his future. There was outrage at the suggestion he could be sold on the evening United host their Europa League quarter-final second leg in Sevilla. Maguire’s intercepted pass made it 3-0.
Being stripped of his senior role was a more significant blow to Maguire than his demotion after two games into last season, and prompted a change. He could also do without pantomime crowds that do not represent United’s die-hard fan base.
Maguire had a stormy few years and the barracks that followed him across the Atlantic to Dublin were unfair. Real United fans appreciate the defensive improvement Maguire has overseen in his first season and will curse his absence from the Europa League final in 2021.
He was being touted for 2021-22, with United approaching that season as potential title contenders. Maguire was good enough for an underachieving United but not for a successful team.
Maguire could be forgiven for thinking twice about West Ham. One Premier League manager has left before the start of the season in Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves, and already Moyes is high on the bookies’ boards to be next.
Then again, look at how Jesse Lingard flourished under Moyes during his productive loan spell at West Ham in 2021. Now Lingard is out of his mind after what many would say is putting greed over ambition.
In hindsight, Moyes should probably have walked away after the height of securing a first major trophy in the Europa League final. With Rice gone, Moyes’ coaching staff is depleted following the departures of Mark Warburton and Paul Nevin, while uncertainty grows over the futures of several players.
West Ham finished with 40 points last season and are already looking set for relegation when another campaign of Thursday Night Football is set to take place.
United didn’t even receive that pay after Moyes’ season in charge.
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