What Does Signing of DJ Buffonge Say About Manchester United's Transfer Policy?

Manchester United's transfer activity has considerably ramped up over the past few seasons, and the signing of DJ Buffonge highlights one strand of the club's approach.

There is a balance at work between signing big-name stars, versatile squad players and promising youngsters. At the top end of that final category is Anthony Martial—he may be one for the future, but he has been able to make an immediate impact.

DJ Buffonge's signing is not atypical of United's approach over the years. He arrived at the club on trial in August after leaving Fulham, where he had been since July 2010, per MailOnline. 

According to United's official website: 

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The former Fulham prospect started the season in the Under-18 team and set up Zak Dearnley's goal in the opening fixture at West Brom[wich Albion]. However, a groin injury sustained in a 3-2 win over Derby County in late August cut short his progress.

Despite the setback, United's coaches had seen enough to complete a deal on 13 November for a creative midfielder who is very comfortable in possession of the ball.

Buffonge was with Arsenal's Academy before switching across London to Fulham.

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Signing promising young talent from around the country is not a new idea at Old Trafford, though it once was. Indeed, it was Sir Matt Busby who introduced the concept.

A member of Busby's 1968 European Cup-winning squad, John Aston, said of Sir Matt, per Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail:

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His original idea was simple but so effective. He organised a good scouting system and got the best players from around the country.

He started getting players like Bobby Charlton from the North East and Duncan Edwards from the Midlands. That was Matt's innovation.

It was ground-breaking at the time.

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Sir Alex Ferguson followed in Busby's footsteps to some extent. Eric Harrison, the youth team manager who brought through the Class of '92, recalled an early conversation with Sir Alex in an interview with Colin Malam of the Telegraph from 2001:

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I was a bit touchy because I thought he was having a go at me. So I pointed out that Norman Whiteside and one or two others had come through to play in the first team. He said, "Yeah, I accept that. But I want more than that." And when I said, "How do you mean, you want more that that? he replied, "I want more players!"

So, always having been a bit confident, I said, "Right, we'll do a deal. You get me better-quality players, and I'll get you more youngsters in the first team." And he said, "Done!"

So he revamped it and worked extremely hard, as he'd done at Aberdeen. They'd had a lot of young players there and he said that was the way forward. He had meetings of scouts and he re-motivated everybody.

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That remotivation bore legendary fruit, given the emergence of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and their contemporaries. There were those from slightly further afield, too, most notably David Beckham.

Buffonge's arrival fits into a long tradition of United attempting to find the best young players available.

While there were concerns that the big-name signings made by Louis van Gaal would take the club away from its traditions of bringing through young talent, he has, in fact, given many youngsters a first-team opportunity.

ANDREW YATES/Getty Images

The long-standing record of having a player who has been through United's academy in every matchday squad is well intact, and Jesse Lingard has staked his claim to be part of the first-team picture.

Buffonge is one of a long line of players brought to the club as a young talent. Most do not make it at United, but whether or not he does, the 17-year-old is part of a proud, long-standing tradition which matters a great deal to supporters and is an important thread in the Old Trafford fabric.