Manchester United’s transfer frustration lies closer to home

Manchester United’s England football striker Wayne Rooney (C) arrives at the Four Seasons hotel in Bangkok on July 11, 2013. Manchester United arrived in Thailand ahead of a July 13 friendly against a Thai All-Star XI as the club begins its new era under boss David Moyes. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

The Reds’ incompetence is not limited to incoming transfers though. That the club has mishandled the Wayne Rooney saga all summer long proves as much.

Quite remarkably, United has manoeuvred an increasingly political situation to the point where the player’s position is all but untenable. And yet with clubs a continent wide spending heavily on the few genuinely classy strikers available, there is only one bidder, Chelsea, at the table. This for the pre-eminent English talent of the past decade.

Moyes is left in the unenviable position of retaining a striker who has little intention of playing for United again, or strengthening a major title rival. José Mourinho is surely laughing into a glass of Madeira tonight, even as Woodward rejected Chelsea’s second bid for the striker.

If only it ends there.

Elsewhere, serial under-performers seem likely to remain with the club – Nani, Anderson and Bébé each joined United’s Monday afternoon flight to Stockholm for the club’s penultimate pre-season friendly. The £45 million spent on the trio is unlikely to ever bear a return on investment.

Rooney did not board, however, with a mysterious shoulder injury cited as reason for pulling the 27-year-old out of United’s fixture against AIK in the Swedish capital. It is an excuse even the player’s family will be pushed to believe.

Most disturbingly, there seems little in the way of contingency for Rooney’s departure. Certainly, eyes fluttered in Robert Lewandowski’s direction will do little good – the Pole is almost certain to join Bayern Munich a year hence. Perhaps a cheeky bid for Victor Anichebe is in order.

This is a familiar tale of course. Rejected by Fàbregas and Alcântara, United will find no success delivering a bid for former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modri?, for example. Not with the Real in no mood to sell.

It leaves United looking at the only sure bet left: Marouane Fellaini. The Belgian’s is a limited talent that few supporters wanted to see in red just a few weeks ago. Needs may now must.

Unsurprisingly, United’s ill-planning is likely to shine through once more, with the Belgian’s £23 million release clause having lapsed at the end of July. The transfer could cost United significantly more, proving that old misogynist adage that if you have to go ugly, go early.

It’s enough to drive fans to madness; or perhaps self-flagellation.