sport news MARTIN SAMUEL: Manchester United's mistake is assuming that success comes with ... trends now
Manchester City got Erling Haaland and Liverpool got Darwin Nunez.
Manchester United, having lost at home to Brighton for the first time in their history, are now having a second swing at recruiting 33-year-old Marko Arnautovic. He could partner Cristiano Ronaldo in a front two with a combined age of 70.
Still, there's plenty of room for optimism at Manchester United. That's the problem. Call it the Ed Woodward effect. Nobody sees the worst happening.
They think being Manchester United is all it needs. That they will always be the market leaders because all they know is the market. Yet, increasingly, even their trusted commercial partners see through this.
Manchester United have launched a shock bid to sign 33-year-old forward Marko Arnautovic in a summer that has seen City sign Erling Haaland and Liverpool sign Darwin Nunez
TeamViewer, the name on the shirt, have already served notice that they will not be extending their deal when it expires in 2026, just 18 months into the contract.
Players, and their agents, no longer respond breathlessly to United's calls. And yet, despite years of under-achievement, nobody saw this coming.
Woodward believed it was United's place to make the biggest signings in English football and never imagined a day when this would require more than a fluttering of the eyelashes. United were not in the results business, they were simply in business and very good at it. And he thought that would always be enough.
Yet when Haaland became available, United were never in the contest. They gave up on Nunez because, once Liverpool were interested, they knew they could not compete. The same with Luis Diaz.
Ed Woodward thought that, just by being 'United', the club would maintain its attractiveness
And this isn't about money because United pay good money. This is about them, where they stand, what the future holds.
Paul Pogba joined Manchester United when they were in the Europa League because it was considered a strictly temporary displacement which he would help correct. We now know that was wrong. United are a Europa League club still, top six, not top four, and Woodward was incorrect too, it did matter.
So as this season starts as the last ended — in defeat, the first time this has occurred since ending 1972-73 losing to Chelsea and starting 1973-74 by going down 3-0 at Arsenal — United remain on the periphery of the elite.
Manager Erik ten Hag knows Arnautovic and clearly rates him, but the last player United signed with Chinese Super League experience was Odion Ighalo, and that was painted very much as an exceptional transaction.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a big name who United signed, but at 34 he was longer in his prime
No longer. United are not getting the best players any more and the big names they attract are no longer in their prime.
Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic — these are New York Cosmos recruits, great in their day, great on the odd day, but where are their equivalents at Manchester City and Liverpool, even Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea?
In the absence of a genuine vision, United have resorted to another sales pitch. This one projected Ten Hag as having a Pep Guardiola-like attention to detail and a Fabio Capello-like fondness for discipline.
Then Ronaldo ran rings around the club before the season had even started, undermining the manager despite all his best-laid slogans, briefings, blueprints and rules.
The two goals from Brighton's Pascal Gross merely added to the sense of chaos. United are three points off Manchester City after one game. It is unlikely now that they will catch them all season.
Cristiano Ronaldo has ran rings around the Old Trafford hierarchy throughout the summer
Still, they are getting the gang back together with tales of a regular meeting involving Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill and new chief executive Richard Arnold at their Carrington base — an executive brains trust.
Yet the secret to the Ferguson era at United was that standards never dropped. They didn't win the league every year, but they never let it slip like this, never compromised the notion that this was a huge club, the biggest in the land.
Woodward thought that, just by being United, they would stay that way. False. At that top end, the only true maintenance is continued excellence. Liverpool and Manchester City refuse to let their standards drop. Chelsea, too, apart from one dreadful campaign.
Yet United got complacent. They believed their own publicity. United felt success was all in the name. That is why they have so much catching up to do.
Majority owner Avram Glazer was in attendance for United's defeat to Brighton on Sunday
Why Chloe and co won our hearts
Chloe Kelly, match-winning hero of England's Euro 2022 victory, is a big QPR fan and was at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Interviewed on the pitch, she was thanked for sparing the nation the agony of a penalty shootout against Germany.
'I'd like to say I would have taken a penalty, but I don't think I would,' said Kelly. 'I'm a bit of a bottle job.'
One of the great things about this team is the absence of self-aggrandisement. Not knowing your place, just not taking yourself too seriously. It is why they are so easy to like, and admire.
Chloe Kelly and England are easy to admire because they don't take themselves too seriously
Time for Tuchel to let Callum head off
Callum Hudson-Odoi has asked to leave Chelsea a third time. They should grant his wish.
It is not as if he has been without opportunity. Hudson-Odoi has featured in 126 games across all competitions, including 66 starts. That is enough to come to a conclusion on whether a player is first-team material and a succession of Chelsea managers have decided Hudson-Odoi is not.
He would be a starter a rung down the Premier League, maybe at Leicester, where Brendan Rodgers is an admirer, but appears just short of what Chelsea need now.
Hudson-Odoi is 21, so there is still time, but Thomas Tuchel has better options in his position. The player has asked for a loan move, not a permanent transfer. He has played fair, now Chelsea should too. Let him go.
Callum Hudson-Odoi has asked to leave Chelsea again and the club should grant his wish
If you want a job done right, keep the Government out of it
It has been another challenging week for the proponents of government regulation for football, with the revelation that Clearlake Capital, majority shareholders of Chelsea, receive billions in investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, owners of Newcastle.
A potential conflict of interest, surely? Clearlake have 60 per cent of Chelsea but also manage roughly £80billion in assets for roughly 300 investors, including the PIF.
Perhaps PIF's investment with Clearlake dwarfs the £350million they paid for Newcastle. Certainly it could be argued that Clearlake should have disclosed any
