Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has delivered a damning verdict on the club's post-Sir Alex Ferguson transfer policy, insisting the legendary manager would 'never' have signed £73m flop Jadon Sancho.
The Ferguson Standard: A Lost Art in Recruitment
Saha, who played under Ferguson between 2004 and 2008, argues that the Scot's unparalleled success was built not just on tactics but on meticulous homework in the transfer market. Ferguson's 26-year reign delivered 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, five FA Cups, and four League Cups, a period of dominance that has evaporated since his 2013 retirement.
The Frenchman told Pundit Arena that the fundamental error with Sancho's signing was a failure to assess the player's character. 'One of the essential things to do for any transfer is to do your homework before you sign a player,' Saha stated. 'You need to know the character of a player before you even try to sign him. Ferguson would always chase information on a transfer target before he signed them. I don’t think that has been happening much at United.'
Where United Went Wrong With Sancho
Jadon Sancho, who became United's fourth-most expensive signing ever when he joined from Borussia Dortmund for £73m in 2021, has become a symbol of the club's wasteful spending. He made just 83 appearances before a series of loan moves, following a public fallout with former manager Erik ten Hag.
Saha believes Ferguson would have identified the risk immediately. 'Honestly, I don’t think Alex Ferguson would have wanted to sign him,' he said. 'I think he knew that the best way to deal with players of Sancho’s profile is to never sign them. I think that’s where Man United went wrong in the market since Sir Alex left.'
The ex-forward also highlighted the collapse of the dressing room's demanding culture, which once enforced high standards. 'Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, each of them would have been able to offer words of warning, or encouragement, to bring him along,' Saha explained. 'In recent times at United, it seems there were no boundaries... Those foundations disappeared.'
The Costly Aftermath of a Failed Transfer
The financial scale of United's transfer missteps is staggering, with the club spending almost £2bn on signings in the post-Ferguson era without winning a league title. Sancho's career has also suffered; after a failed loan at Chelsea last season—which saw the Blues pay a £5m penalty to cancel a permanent agreement—he moved to Aston Villa on loan this term.
His struggles continue, with zero goals or assists in 13 appearances for Unai Emery's side, most coming off the bench. His miserable Old Trafford chapter will finally close when his contract expires in the summer of 2025, leaving his future uncertain.
Saha concluded that such repeated errors hurt all parties. 'You will always make the odd mistake... but it’s happened so often at United with recent signings that it has became a real problem. It doesn’t just hurt United. For some of the players... it hurts their career too.' The critique underscores a central challenge for the current United hierarchy: rediscovering the forensic recruitment that once underpinned their dominance.
