Manchester United Transfers: Did United Miss out on Jack Rodwell?

Almost out of the blue, Manchester City have announced they've signed Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell in a deal believed to be worth close to £15 million (via The Telegraph).

The reason I say that the transfer has come "out of the blue" is due to the fact that barely 24 hours had elapsed between the time that the club were first seriously linked with the player and the move being confirmed.

For those few United fans who may feel like a potential target has been stolen away from under the club's noses (a la Lucas Moura), let me assuage their fears and simultaneously answer the question posed by the article's headline.

No, Manchester United have not missed out on Jack Rodwell. If anything, they've had a lucky escape.

Granted, their biggest need is in the defensive midfield position—anyone who has even vaguely followed the club knows that.

Sir Alex Ferguson has never been able to replace talisman Roy Keane and these days seems to have given up trying.

Owen Hargreaves was tipped to be the man for the job, but unfortunate circumstances put paid to that possibility.

So with United currently in the market for new players, and at least £20 million burning a hole in Sir Alex's pocket, why wasn't Rodwell considered?

Let me start by saying that City have only had to pay £15 million because they were buying from Everton, who, like Tottenham, are one of the most notoriously difficult clubs to do business with (if anything, I mean that as a compliment to both).

If United's pursuit of Leighton Baines has proven anything, it's that David Moyes isn't prepared to let an important player go just because a big club has batted their eyelids at him.

Make no mistake, though, Jack Rodwell was the "hot topic" of British football for a while. A potential future England great whose name was on the lips of every coach and scout across the country and beyond.

Now, not so much.

Everton boss Moyes is no fool. If he believed Rodwell was worth more than £15 million, he would have gotten it from City.

In fact, knowing the way Everton markup the price of their players, I would put Rodwell's actual valuation at close to £10 million.

He is injury prone, and even when fit last season, he wasn't an automatic name on the team sheet.

Watching him play, I get the feeling he just lacks that little bit of attitude or confidence—when in possession he always looks for the easiest pass and rarely ventures forward.

In that respect, he's actually regressed over the past few years.

As a teenager, he'd go on at least one barnstorming run a game, but these days he just sits back without much effect.

It's a bad move for both parties actually. Rodwell will likely spend most of his time on the bench even if he's well paid for the privilege.

Roberto Mancini himself admitted as much after the move was made official.

"Jack Rodwell is a young player who needs to improve to play at this level," he told reporters (via Daily Mail).

"It’s the first time he will be in a club that plays to win and it will be different for him, but I’m sure that, in a couple of years, he will be a top, strong midfielder."

In "a couple of years," Roberto? Really?

Unless sitting on the bench has become the most efficient way to develop a player, does he really believe City's coaches are that much better than Everton's?

The move reeks of "panic buy." Mancini has money to spend and wants to spend it as soon as possible—now he's been given the green light to do so.

I'd be incredibly surprised if any of the players the Italian brings to City in the next few weeks will earn a place in his starting lineup this season.

But with money burning a hole in his pocket, it seems he didn't learn from Arsene Wenger's supermarket dash on deadline day last August.

United fans can take solace in the fact that Sir Alex would never pay over the odds with the clock running out.

(On a completely unrelated side note, Manchester United paid £30 million for Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov on August 31, 2008.)