Very early in the summer, even before Thomas Vermaelen knew how far Belgium would get in the World Cup, he had a fair idea where he would be playing this season. It wasn't Camp Nou. The centre-half had provisionally agreed a deal with Manchester United, so the club then only had to negotiate a fee with Arsenal. It was acknowledged at Old Trafford that this would be difficult, and that the London side were not exactly joyous about the transfer, but the belief was that it could be forced through.
Incoming manager Louis van Gaal was certainly under the impression it would be. Vermaelen anticipated it. The United officials just had to do their part, the main part: seal the deal. So Vermaelen waited. And waited... and waited. And waited. There was a puzzling lack of movement.
Then, Barcelona came in, and Vermaelen informed United he couldn't wait any more. Although he had been genuinely weighing up the decision, and the prospect of playing for the Catalan club didn't automatically blow United out of the equation, it came down to a rather simple piece of logic: Vermaelen couldn't gamble on waiting for United. Arsenal may not have wanted to sell to them at all, as a rival, and now a foreign club was interested. If he did wait for an offer from Old Trafford, there was the risk Barca could look elsewhere. So Vermaelen moved to Catalonia. United lost out.
The bottom line from those close to the Belgian's camp is that, with a bit a more urgency, a bit more proactivity and a bit more nous, the player could have been at Old Trafford a while ago. That message has become something of a refrain. Van Gaal was said to be livid.
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Either way, it is simply stunning that one of the biggest and wealthiest clubs in the world has endured such a confusing difficulty in actually signing players. The starkest sign of that is that a midfield problem area has now also become a defensive problem area, purely because of an inability to go out and buy who they need.
As regards the reasons why, there are understood to be a few, but the most pressing -- from a variety of sources -- is a current lack of "canniness". One official from another major club confided that he was surprised at the "naivety" of "a club like United" in recent windows. Then there are the Glazer family owners, who are seeing the rise of some dissent again.
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United are not yet willing to do what Bayern, Chelsea or the Spanish duo do and simply pay the premium if it means getting crucial business done. There is also a slickness to the way those rivals go about business, with the abilities of their personnel enhancing the effect of the money. With United, one player deal that was at a tentative stage this summer is said to have never got off the ground because of a difference of about two million pounds.