Carragher Questions Manchester United's Transfer Strategy for Tielemans
Jamie Carragher has questioned the logic behind Manchester United’s summer business, arguing that the £35 million move for Youri Tielemans feels like a transfer done in the wrong order.
Tielemans arrived from Aston Villa last month on a five-year deal, billed as a central pillar of Michael Carrick’s midfield rebuild at Old Trafford. On paper, it looks like a solid, Premier League-proven signing. Carragher can’t shake the feeling that it’s come a few years too late.
Speaking on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, the former Liverpool defender described the moment his doubts crystallised. He had been flicking between the UEFA Super Cup clash between PSG and Aston Villa and Manchester United’s friendly against Leeds on ITV when Tielemans stepped up to take a corner.
"It just came to me a little bit – Tielemans was taking a corner, and it come to me, he’s a good player, don’t get me wrong," Carragher said. "But you’d almost feel like he should have been at United a few years ago, then gone to Villa – not being at Villa, then gone to United.
"I’m not saying he’s had his best days, but it almost felt like the wrong way round. The last three years should have been at United, and then he gets sold to Villa."
That sense of timing, of United arriving late to a player’s peak rather than early, ran through Carragher’s wider criticism of their window. The Tielemans deal, in his eyes, symbolises a club still unsure whether it is planning for tomorrow or patching up yesterday.
If Tielemans felt like a move made too late, the one that got away felt like a move never really made at all.
Carragher was equally unimpressed by United’s failure to land Mateus Fernandes, the highly rated Portuguese midfielder who instead joined Tottenham Hotspur in a blockbuster £85m switch from West Ham. United had held talks over the player but walked away from the fee, leaving Spurs to pounce.
"I was a little bit worried when I saw United linked with Fernandes because I thought that could be a good signing," Carragher admitted. "I just looked at him and his age and was surprised United didn’t go for Fernandes.
"They said it was too expensive but was it that expensive? I know £85m is a lot but you’re never going to get a really top midfielder now for £50m."
Where Carragher sees hesitation, Paul Scholes sees a squad still missing a piece in the spine.
The former United midfielder backed the view that the club remain short in key areas and spelled out where he believes the recruitment should be focused before the window shuts.
"A priority position for United... think of a position where it’s needed most," Scholes said. "We’ve got players who can cover the forward areas – I think [Matheus] Cunha can play centre-forward, and [Bryan] Mbeumo can play centre-forward. And you’ve still got – I don’t know what’s going to happen with Marcus Rashford, but again, there’s another option in that area. I still think either centre-half or central midfielder is a priority."
So the picture is clear: Tielemans arrives as a key cog in Carrick’s “midfield revolution”, yet leading voices from the club’s past doubt whether he represents the kind of transformative, future-proof signing United need. At the same time, a younger, more expensive option in Fernandes has slipped away to a direct rival.
All of this plays out against a ticking clock. United open their Premier League campaign at Old Trafford on Saturday against newly-promoted Hull City, with the debate over their summer strategy growing louder than the pre-season optimism.
Tielemans now walks into a dressing room – and a fanbase – where he is not just expected to steady the midfield, but to prove that United’s judgment, not Carragher’s, will define the next phase of this team.
