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Not much needs to be said about the current state of Manchester United Football Club.
The Red Devils will be playing in the Europa League next season after missing out on Champions League qualification, and are facing a huge battle to keep a number of their biggest names ahead of the summer window.
A sporting director is still yet to be appointed, a position of growing importance in the modern game – see Liverpool and Manchester City’s success in the market – and names as inexperienced as Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher are being linked with the role.
The club’s biggest mistake though? Ignoring the advice of former recruitment guru Derek Langley.
Will OGS still be in charge of Man Utd come next May? The Flying Pig discusses in the video below…
Langley, who helped bring the likes of Gerard Pique and Marcus Rashford to Old Trafford, recommended Ajax prodigies Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong to United officials last year, as well as RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano.
The lifelong United fan said: “Players that they turned down? Matthijs de Ligt. We had God knows how many reports on Matthijs de Ligt. Frenkie de Jong and all these players now are sort of around Europe.
“Dayot Upamecano, who is now at Red Bull Leipzig, was another.”
Langley was later removed from his role after confronting Ed Woodward, who he feels didn’t take his recommendations seriously enough.
Nowadays, both De Jong and De Ligt have just been part of a sensational run to the Champions League semi-final with Ajax and are on course to secure a domestic double, with the former securing a £65m move to Barcelona back in January ahead of a summer switch.
His international teammate, De Ligt, has also been linked with a mega-money move to the Camp Nou, with Transfermarkt valuing the 19-year-old at a whopping £63m.
In Upamecano’s case, he is slightly less well known, but he is still valued at £27m by the same site and is earning rave reviews from the German press – the 20-year-old has untold amounts of potential.
Luckily for United, they have the likes of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo to ease the pain of missing out on De Ligt and Upamecano, and Scott McTominay pulling the strings instead of the current Ajax No.21 and chief playmaker.
“Ultimately, we could have been so much better if people had listened,” said Langley.
How Woodward and Co must be kicking themselves now.
