Manchester United's Transfer Moves Mean Success Must Be Instant

Manchester United's transfer moves have had a very different timbre this summer than in recent years.

Assuming the mooted Paul Pogba deal does not collapse under the weight of its own hubris, this window will have achieved the remarkable feat of being the flashiest and splashiest in the club's history while simultaneously being the most laser-focused on fixing areas of weakness.

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There have been big splashes before—Juan Sebastian Veron, Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov being three good examples from the Sir Alex Ferguson era. And, of course, under Louis van Gaal, there was the free-wheeling, free-spending summer of 2014 when Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao arrived to save the club.

That summer, though, had nothing like the sense of forethought, solid or decisive action of this year. A new centre-half and a new right-winger were on everyone's United shopping list. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's signing makes perfect sense.

He arrives as a lieutenant for Jose Mourinho, and while his wages will no doubt be substantial, a free-transfer for one of the game's all-time greats is always appealing, even as his career winds down. There is a hint of stunt casting about it, but look deeper and bringing in another centre-forward to work with Marcus Rashford is entirely sensible.

Wayne Rooney clearly cannot cut it as a line-leading centre-forward any more, so an alternative was needed. Ensuring that it was not someone who would get in the way of Rashford's long-term development is crucial.

And if Pogba arrives, then the much-needed midfield upgrade will be addressed.

Van Gaal tried, to his credit, bringing in Ander Herrera, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger during his time in charge, but he never got the best out of Herrera or Schneiderlin. Injuries, conditioning and Mourinho's arrival have hindered Schweinsteiger. So Pogba's arrival would offer a massive lift.

The financial aspect of the deals done—or very nearly done—need to be taken on their own merits.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan arrived for £26 million. Though he had just one year left on his contract with Borussia Dortmund, the rest of this summer's activity in the Premier League makes that fee look like an absolute bargain.

With 11 goals and 15 assists in the league last season in Germany, he is a highly productive and creative forward, the kind that carries a premium. It might seem ridiculous to claim £26 million is a bargain of any kind given it remains an eye-watering sum, but these things are relative.

Eric Bailly for £30 million is a much more expensive punt. The Ivorian has impressed in pre-season and is clearly a big talent, but there were mistakes last season, notably against Atletico Madrid in April when he allowed Fernando Torres to win possession far too easily. His team lost that game 1-0.

Of course, one mistake does not define a season, but it was indicative of the rawness of a young centre-half. United's great centre-backs have always peaked later in their careers.

Ibrahimovic was a free transfer, of course, and there are no questions around his experience. The only doubts are connected to his age and its impact on his ability to adapt to the Premier League's physical demands. However, given his enormous physical strength, and outrageous portfolio of skills, he should do at least OK.

Then, of course, there is the £100 million elephant in the room. Or £112 million, per Dan Gibbs of the Express. He cites "widespread reports" that Pogba "will be officially announced as a Manchester United player by Sunday" for that price.

That would take United's combined spending for the summer to £168 million, and at that level, some degree of instant success is a requirement.

Of course, nothing is ever quite that simple. Adding Lionel Messi to last season's United squad would not guarantee the league title. Great teams are more than the combined sum of their individual talents.

Each of the new additions is arriving from outside of the Premier League. Only Pogba has prior experience in England, and that was almost entirely at youth level—which, incidentally, is why United now have to spend the GDP of a tiny nation to bring him back, rather than having kept him in the first place.

There are still questions hanging over United's squad, too—right-back looks a potential problem spot. At centre-back, Bailly's arrival does strengthen the choices at Mourinho's disposal. However, there is not yet an obvious elite-level pairing to be constructed from the available options.

Then there is the question of how all of these players will jell with their new team-mates and whether Mourinho will keep Rooney in the side regardless of his performance level.

But all of this aside, you cannot spend at this level, attracting this calibre of players and addressing the problem areas of the squad so effectively and not compete for success at a much higher level than United have achieved recently. The only nuance here is about what success looks like.

At his first press conference in charge of the Red Devils, Mourinho said, per the Guardian's Jamie Jackson:

"

I could approach this job in a defensive point of view by saying the last three years the best we did was fourth. I can’t go—it is my nature.

Manchester United—for many years success was just routine and in this moment the last three years are to forget. I want the players to forget. I don’t want the players to think we have to do better and finish fourth. Finishing fourth is not the aim.

"

The aim, by implication, is that titles are what he has come to United to win. He also said:

"

I prefer to be more aggressive and say we want to win. What is playing well? It is scoring more goals than the opponents, conceding less, making your fans proud because you give everything and you win. It is everything at the same time. It is an aggressive approach by myself. I want everything. Of course we are not going to get everything but we want to.

"

The spending this summer has been a testament to that ambition. It is a little hard to adapt to the new financial reality of English football after its largest-ever TV deal, but United are clearly flexing the muscles their specific commercial power gives them.

And while Ibrahimovic and Pogba are particularly marketable players—in a manner that will boost that commercial power—the real heart of the club's financial success is their on-pitch success. United under Ferguson were a winning machine, and that catapulted them to the status of a global branding superpower.

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Spending the fruits of those gains on players who will bring success is a sensible choice at this point. But it cannot be a failure—not again.

Last season's freakish Premier League season saw Leicester City exploit a hitherto unknown power vacuum. United have put themselves in a position to be the club who exploits that next, reclaiming their seat at the top table.

But Manchester City and Chelsea are making moves too, in managerial and player recruitment. Liverpool have Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham Hotspur's crop of exciting young talent have a season's more experience under their belts. The threats will only grow in the coming years.

Now is the time to strike. And in spending like they have, United have put themselves in a position to do so, but of course it means there will be tremendous pressure on them if they do not. Instant success might not mean the title, but at the very least it should mean a sustained challenge.

United have to mix it with the big boys again, and having spent so freely, they have to get there quickly.

Transfer values per Soccerbase except where otherwise noted.