United fans were angry at their club’s perceived shoddy transfer window…
Manchester United have written an open letter to the club’s fans to explain why they made the decisions they did in this summer’s transfer window, ITV reports.
David Moyes only signed Maroune Fellaini from Everton for £27.5m, and supporters were disgruntled after repeatedly missing out on targets such as Thiago, Cesc Fabregas and Ander Herrera.
Director of communications Phil Townsend addressed fans, explaining that in his and the club’s opinion – United achieved everything they wanted to this summer.
Not only did they keep Wayne Rooney, but they signed Fellaini to fix the centre-midfield problem. Wilfried Zaha also arrived from Crystal Palace after the Red Devils secured his signature back in January, and Adnan Januzaj has come into the first-team squad as well.
Townsend also stated the club’s commitment to Moyes was proven by the award of a six-year-contract, and reminded fans that the £40m they have spent in 2013 is more than usual.
To read extended extracts of the letter, see here:
“The club has always backed the manager in the transfer market, as Sir Alex (Ferguson) has said on many occasions and it will continue to do so
“The club has demonstrated its belief in, and commitment to, David Moyes through the award of a six-year contract.
“Allowing him to shape the future Manchester United team is a long-term project not an eight-week panic.
“He must be given time to assess his new squad and come to his own decisions on which players he feels will strengthen it.
“The club had two main priorities for the transfer window.
“The first was to keep Wayne Rooney.
“He is a world-class player and the manager is very keen to have Wayne as a key part of the club’s drive to retain the Premier League trophy. That aim was fulfilled.
“The second priority was to add a midfield player, and the capture of Fellaini has met that need.
“Add to that the fact that Wilfried Zaha is a new signing and that the manager has added the highly-rated young player Adnan Januzaj to the squad and the team does in fact have a different feel to it than the one that finished last season.
“United had spent in excess of £40million this summer, more than it has traditionally spent on transfers.
“Additional resources were there to add to that but it was not possible to agree with other clubs for the right players to leave.
“The key point there is that the players we buy have to be the right ones for Manchester United; not just any player.
“It is worth pointing out that many of the players the club was associated with during the window had never figured in David Moyes’ plans and the name of Manchester United was being used by others to inflate players’ values or raise the profile of their availability.
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