Four years ago, in the space of one transfer window, Manchester United made two signings. Two signings which would come to define very different things in the mind of Red Devils supporters.
One which would prove to be a remarkable piece of business over years to come. And another which was the very definition of the kind of short-termist, sticking-plaster-solutions which came to epitomise the Glazer era.
Flash forward to April 2024, and Bruno Fernandes is closing in on his 250th appearance in Manchester United colours. Talk about value for money. Arguably no signing in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era has proven to be more transformative, more influential, than the £47 million acquisition from Sporting Lisbon.
History will not look back on Odion Ighalo’s spell at Old Trafford, however, with quite so much fondness.
OK, the former Watford striker – snapped up on deadline day from Shanghai Shenhua – may be something of a cult hero to some in the Man United fanbase, Ighalo’s obvious adoration for the Red Devils a refreshing change in a time of money-chasing mercenaries.
But perhaps Gary Neville said it best when, speaking to Sky Sports, he claimed that the last-gasp signing of a 30-year-old on loan from a Chinese club was symptomatic of a lack of long-term thinking all across the board at Man United.
Odion Ighalo summed up Manchester United in Glazer era
“I can’t let the club off the hook, unfortunately,” Neville said, United already having been forced to transform Anthony Martial into a number nine due to the lack of alternatives up front. “Romelu Lukaku told us a couple of weeks ago that he had said he was going to leave last February or March.
“That’s nine months to be able to manoeuvre and get into a position to sign a striker for the club for the long-term. And yet they have ended up desperately doing one on Deadline Day.”
According to The Athletic, Ighalo’s arrival did not reflect particularly kindly on Man United’s youth-team ranks either.
Those in senior positions at Old Trafford, in response to the Ighalo signing, reportedly said something along the lines of; ‘This isn’t good enough. We should have had a young centre-forward who was good enough to go on the bench.’
That, The Athletic’s excellent Andy Mitten writes, was something of a turning point in Man United’s operations at youth level. The club vowed that, if a similar situation was to arrive again in the future, the Red Devils would be able to do what, say, arch-rivals Liverpool have done throughout the current campaign.
A host of teenagers stepping up and performing in an injury crisis.
Future looks bright again at Old Trafford
Man United have undoubtedly – and to the eternal credit of many working with the next batch of Carrington kids – made huge progress behind the scenes in the last four years. An academy which had fallen so far behind that of Man City not only catching up but threatening to overtake their neighbours once again.
Their outstanding Under-18 side – adding the Premier League Cup to the league title in midweek – is proof of that. As is the first-team involvement of Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and – to a lesser extent – Willy Kambwala.
Next season, if a Marcus Rashford or a Rasmus Hojlund was to pick up a long-term injury perhaps Man United will no longer seek to slap on a bandage in the shape of a 30-something import. Perhaps they will instead look inwards, and promote a Shea Lacey or an Ethan Wheatley to step into the breach.
Odion Ighalo, playing just 23 times and scoring only five goals, might not have made the impact he wanted to on the pitch at Manchester United. But, off it, he can inadvertently take some credit for what could be the most exciting crop of youngsters to emerge from Carrington since the fabled ‘Class of 92’.