Manchester United's age in transition: Does Moyes have the pulling power to get Fabregas?

Barcelona have already rejected two bids for Cesc Fabregas from Manchester United. (Getty Images)

Once the curtains were drawn over the 27 year long career of the great Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United supporters around the worldsuddenly felt that they had lost their dear grand-dad. Even though his successor, David Moyes was received with a certain kind of subdued reception, in no way has he been able to fill the void created by the exit of Sir Alex.

One of the defining characteristics of a successful football manager is his ability to be shrewd. That is what defines either Jose Mourinho or Jürgen Klopp and even Sir Alex Ferguson, regarded as some of the best footballing brains across the world.

The basic problem with Moyes is that he still has a year or two to go before he finds a strong foothold at the century-old club. There is no doubt this man has got what it takes to be the best in the world, but you need to be somewhat better than the best to be a Manchester United manager.

His lack of experience has certainly been proved in the way he and his peers have handled the Cesc Fabregas saga so far. Before going on to the details of the most talked about transfer this year, there are a few fundamental mistakes that the United management made in their pursuit of the Spanish marksman.

First, if they were so desperate to have Fabregas, they should have bid for him much earlier; at least a few weeks before Barcelona’s sale of Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich. Barcelona had already sold two of their marquee players in the form of David Villa and Thiago when they were finally approached by the English giants.

Second, from Fabregas’s point of view, having just secured a dream transfer to his boyhood club two seasons ago, he would ideally not welcome a move away so soon. After all he had fought hard with his mentor at Arsenal to secure a move to his homeland. For the Spaniard, money had never been a concern because if it had been so, he would have landed straight down to money feeding club like Manchester City or Chelsea.

Third, Arsenal’s ‘First Refusal’ clause was always going to be a stumbling block in the way of acquiring Fabregas. Having just lost Robin van Persie to their bitter rivals last year, Arsenal should definitely try to keep their former asset away from Carrington Road.

We are all very well aware of the capabilities of this Spaniard, but instead of living in a dream world, United fans would have wanted something materialistic. So here are some possible suggestions that Moyes could have looked upon:

Claudio Marchisio – Juventus

Wesley Sneijder – Galatasaray

Christian Eriksen – Ajax

Iker Muniain - Athletic Bilbao

And instead of breaking the club’s transfer record, Moyes could get these players at a much cheaper price as well.

Let us however refrain from drawing any final conclusion because the Fabregas transfer saga is yet to witness its climax. With Skysports reporting that the player is now considering his options, having been given no assurance of ample playing time at Camp Nou next year, United fans could keep their fingers crossed as Ed Woodward tries to achieve a break-through in his effort to bring Fabregas to Old Trafford.