The revelation that Manchester United ignored a ‘red flag’ to sign Rasmus Hojlund for £64m from Atalanta came as a surprise to absolutely nobody.
His displays for United would suggest said concern may have been related to barn doors and banjos, but apparently Sir Jim Ratcliffe and The Lads needed a ‘data revolution’ to uncover their predecessors’ mistake of paying more for a footballer than he was worth. Probably just look at Transfermarkt, chaps.
Anyway, we then wondered which ‘red flags’ may have been ignored with regard to other signings made by United in the last three seasons. In the main we’ve dug deeper than overpayment, as that’s less a red flag and more what they should have avoided having uncovered the red flag.
Big thanks to the wonderful FBRef, which allowed us to compare the signings with players in their position in the season before they joined United.
Manuel Ugarte (PSG, £50m): Sideways or backwards
“You bring the fight,” Erik ten Hag said, pointing out a ‘United & Fight’ sign to a perplexed Ugarte upon his arrival at Carrington. “It’s normal for me,” the Uruguayan replied.
The jury’s still out on that but he’s definitely not one of your midfield conductors. Ugarte is there to recover the ball and give it to someone who can do something with it. He was in the 27th percentile for progressive passes among midfielders in Ligue 1 while at PSG, who now have the technically brilliant pairing of Joao Neves and Vitinha at the base of their midfield.
Luis Enrique got £50m for a player who he was never going to play, because he recognised – as managers from most top teams have done – that a defensive midfielder needs to be more than a fighter these days.
READ MORE: Ten Premier League stars who proved their clubs are The Problem on international break
Leny Yoro (Lille, £52m): Not a Proper Defender
We’re starting to really enjoy watching him and think he could turn into a top, top Premier League defender, but he needs to do the dirty work as well as the Rolls Royce stuff.
The uptick in physicality should have been the concern given he was in the 25th percentile for tackles and interceptions, the 28th for clearances, the 31st for Aerial duels won and – most remarkably – the 1st percentile for blocks. Yoro was bad at the defending parts of being a defender.
Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich, £43m): < Eric Dier
Not good enough for Juventus and then not good enough for Bayern Munich when Eric Dier was.
Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna, £36m): Bad feet for a big man
Zirkzee’s United career has provided a fascinating insight into the football fan psyche. Jeered off by Red Devils supporters as he was substituted after half an hour against Newcastle. Having then felt sorry for the Dutchman, those same supporters now chant his name if he does so much as control the ball and pass it 10 yards.
That’s by no means a given though as the 23-year-old was in the 21st percentile for miscontrols among forwards in Serie A and in the 16th percentile for the number of times he was dispossessed.
Patrick Dorgu (Lecce, £25m): Can’t beat his man
A tough one to make a direct comparison as the FBRef slackers don’t offer a wing-back comparison, so Dorgu is either up against wingers, who generally have superior attacking stats, or full-backs, who have the better defensive stats. And the task is made even more difficult by Dorgu playing on the wing, as a wing-back and a full-back at Lecce before moving to Old Trafford.
Anyway, given he’s been signed to play as a wing-back, we would have thought he would be more attacking than most full-backs, but he was in the 34th percentile for take-ons attempted, the 19th for successful take-ons and the 11th for successful take-on percentage.
Rasmus Hojlund (Atalanta, £64m): Ronaldo without the goals
He’s also got bad feet for a (not quite so) big man, worse than Zirkzee in fact, having been in the 7th percentile for miscontrols and the 4th for being dispossessed, but more enlightening is his lack of defending from the front.
Among strikers in Serie A he was in the 8th percentile for tackles, 12th for tackles won, 33rd for passes blocked and 15th for interceptions.
READ MORE: Man Utd ignored ‘red flag’ to make £64m signing; ‘data warning undermined’ amid ‘walk away’ plea
Mason Mount (Chelsea, £55m): Can’t shoot or score
The United bosses would have loved a big He’s Injured All The F***ing Time red flag but Mount only missed 18 games through injury at Chelsea before his 50 so far at Old Trafford.
They should though perhaps have been concerned by him being in the 38th percentile for goals and for goals per shot, and the 19th for percentage of shots on target.
Andre Onana (Inter Milan, £44m): Below average shot-stopper
Post-shot expected goals is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot. FBRef explains that positive numbers suggest better luck or an above-average ability to stop shots. Onana had a score of -2.7 in his last season for Inter Milan, which made him 16th in Serie A among goalkeepers to have played more than 100 minutes.
He had the third-lowest goal-kick launch percentage at 30% though, so f*** it.
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Antony (Ajax, £82m): His value
Like the time your mate walked into a glass door or any other memory that never fails to make you chuckle, the Ajax chiefs must think back to when Manchester United made their £82m bid for Antony and roll in the halls.
He was worth £30m at the time, which is roughly what the Red Devils now want for him after 12 goals and five assists in 96 appearances.
Casemiro (Real Madrid, £50m): His age
Real Madrid being open to the departure of their five-time Champions League-winning midfielder should have sounded alarm bells. They clearly foresaw a decline that started after a six-month grace period at Old Trafford and then continued apace to the point where a four-year contract which seemed foolhardy to begin with has become one of the biggest sticks to beat the decision-makers with.
Lisandro Martinez (Ajax, £47m): Easily dribbled
Pretty impressive across the board in truth, aside from his ability to stop tricky wingers, with Martinez in the 18th percentile for percentage of dribblers tackled and the 20th for challenges lost, which doesn’t chime all that well with his nickname of ‘The Butcher’.
Tyrell Malacia (Feyenoord, £13m): Too soft
He was 36th percentile for tackles, 16th for tackles in the defensive third, 16th for challenges lost, 26th for interceptions and 8th for clearances, and on the very few occasions he actually played for Manchester United, Malacia didn’t look up for the physical demands of English football.
