Last campaign, Leicester City seemingly came from nowhere to produce the most fanciful and unprecedented season in the history of the Premier League.
With Paul Pogba officially on board, it is time for Manchester United and Jose Mourinho to restore order. United and Mourinho have combined for an incredible 16 Premier League titles since the league’s inception. If they fail to work together to produce another this year, they should both consider it a failure.
Huge spending sprees have become somewhat of a regular occurrence for United since David Moyes was herded out of office. Louis van Gaal was given the keys to a sizeable fortune to invest in the first team in both his offseasons in charge. Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Memphis Depay, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin are just a few of the big money and big name signatures captured by United in the past two years that have failed to have a lasting impact.
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Many of those players have struggled to find their feet and some have already been moved on. That is part and parcel of recruiting and rebuilding a big club. However, there has been something distinctly more systematic about the rebuilding efforts so far under Mourinho.
Take defence for example. Luke Shaw was a signing made with an eye to the future. But the van Gaal reign also featured the signings of Rojo, Daley Blind as well as Matteo Darmian, a full-back capable of playing on the left or right. All four players featured at left-back during the van Gaal era. Eric Bailly is the only defender to arrive this summer. Blind and Chris Smalling will battle it out to start alongside him. There will be no team sheet gymnastics this year.
Central-midfield is another example. Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini were brought in under Moyes, but Herrera, Blind, Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin all arrived to reinforce United’s weak midfield stocks under the Dutchman.
The point is that such an influx of talent into a select few positions rarely creates cohesion, stability or success. Those seven midfielders add up to more than the fee paid for Pogba. But that is the point.
It is true that United could have probably bought a whole team for the price of the young Frenchman. They could have bought a whole starting XI, but they did not – instead, they bought one player. One asset that fills one spot on the starting XI. When you consider that that asset is a generational talent with the potential to be the most dominant midfielder the Premier League has ever seen, then the move begins to make more sense.
Instead of spreading the risk, United are doubling down on the big pieces. The signings of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan reflect the same philosophy. These are players who will feature and excel in one role. Mourinho is building a team made for Premier League success, not one to fight on several fronts.
It is certainly a bold tactic. The so-called Special One has never shied away from making big calls. But it is also the kind of move that should immediately elevate United to title contenders. Forget top four, anything less than a 14th Premier League trophy in the vaunted halls of Old Trafford should be viewed as a disappointment.
The pressure is well and truly on.
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