Sir Alex Ferguson was rarely afraid to spend big to improve his historic Manchester United sides, from welcoming Rio Ferdinand to splashing the cash on Robin Van Persie. But there was one player that he decided against spending big on, going on to dub his transfer “ridiculous”.
Whilst the modern Man United have often got things wrong in the transfer market, there was a time when they got almost every incoming spot on. The same club that recently spent big on Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund and others previously secured transfer coups such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov. It was the well-oiled machine that those at Old Trafford can only dream of in 2025.
Rio Ferdinand
£40m
Sebastian Veron
£37m
Dimitar Berbatov
£33m
Wayne Rooney
£32m
Anderson
£27m
Out of his five most-expensive arrivals, only Anderson failed to impress under Ferguson. The legendary manager got the best out of Ferdinand, Veron, Berbatov and Rooney, who are all now Old Trafford legends.
Those deals also highlighting just how much the market has changed. The five most expensive signings in that era total just over £150m, which is less than Man United spent this summer to welcome Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens.
Whether those four arrivals signal a change in fortune for Old Trafford arrivals is the big question. If they get any near the legacies of Berbatov, Rooney, Veron and Ferdinand then Ruben Amorim’s side may finally find themselves back in European contention and more.
Of course, though, that’s not to say that Ferguson always got things right. Looking back, he may have at least one transfer regret after he dubbed one deal “ridiculous”.
Ferguson slammed "ridiculous" £6m agent fee
As the tide was changing around 2012, the Red Devils had the chance to sign what proved to be a game-changing signing for Chelsea in none other than Eden Hazard, only for Ferguson to slam the transfer as “ridiculous”. Hazard’s agent, John Bico, demanded a larger than usual payment of £6m, seperate from Hazard’s roughly £30m club-to-club fee, to which Fergie refused. The Red Devils signed Shinji Kagawa instead.
“What we’re finding anyway, the climate for buying these top players – not just the transfer fees, the salaries, agents’ fees – is just getting ridiculous now.
“In the Hazard deal, Chelsea paid the agent £6m. The [Samir] Nasri situation was the same. It’s all about what you think is value for a player. I am not envious of those deals at all. We placed a value on Hazard which was well below what they were talking about.”
Of course, as we now know, Hazard went on to become a Premier League legend and one of the most exciting players that Stamford Bridge has ever seen.
Moreover, if there were any concerns that the Belgian was not worth the £6m agent fee, then the fact that Chelsea sold him to Real Madrid for as much as £89m should put those to bed, albeit that fee is one of the transactions the Blues may yet face punishment for after a recent FA charge.
Indeed, Chelsea have been hit with 74 charges related to agent payments, and whether the legality of the siutation was the reason United did not match Chelsea in the race to sign Hazard will now be a prominent question.
