In November 2010 some writing of mine on Manchester United was published in Paul Tomkins' book Pay As You Play, a study of the transfer market since 1992.
Here is one of the three short essays, entitled "Verón was a failure but van Nistelrooy failed the team," that were selected to appear in the book's section on United:
In a list of Manchester United’s most expensive purchases, Juan Sebastián Verón perches near the summit like a monument to transfer folly and serves as a reminder to those clubs that scale the heights of the transfer market to be careful how they spend their money once they're there. United had just won a third successive Premier League crown when they paid Lazio £28.1m for Verón in 2001. The transfer smashed the British record set when Rio Ferdinand had joined Leeds United from West Ham for £18m just eight months previously. Although the reasons why Verón appealed to Sir Alex Ferguson were sound – he was an established international with Argentina who had enjoyed a successful period in Serie A and who, at 26, was entering his prime – the midfielder lasted only two seasons at Old Trafford, starting just 59% of the games in that time, before being quietly sold to Chelsea for just over half what United had originally paid.
Verón left Manchester United in the same subdued manner that had characterised most of his performances for the club. Despite starting well in both of his seasons at United, Verón’s influence waned considerably in each as he struggled first with form and then with injury (the latter helping to explain the disappointing percentage of games that he started). In truth, his standing with the club’s fans was complicated from the beginning because his arrival compromised the attacking role that Paul Scholes performed in midfield. While it was hardly Verón’s fault that he should be in competition with a player who was (and still is) adored at Old Trafford, Scholes’ unhappiness at being overlooked in favour of the Argentine for a match against Liverpool in the autumn of 2001 saw the ginger-haired midfielder refuse to travel to the following game, a League Cup tie with Arsenal, his selection for which he perceived as another snub.
It is worth recalling, however, that United did win the Premier League in 2003 while Verón was still at the club. That title was also the only one that Ferguson won with Ruud van Nistelrooy in the side, the Dutchman having been a £19m purchase made in the same summer as Verón and a player whose time in Manchester is remembered as being far more of a success than his former teammate’s. Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals during his five years at United, 95 of them in the league, but such personal triumphs did not bring sustained success to the club. Before he was sold to Real Madrid in 2006, van Nistelrooy’s goals had only helped United to win three major honours. Van Nistelrooy scored twice in the 2004 FA Cup final as he added that trophy to his league title the previous season, but the Carling Cup winner’s medal he received during his final season in England was picked up as an unused substitute. Although he was a magnificent goalscorer, van Nistelrooy had begun to clash with his teammates (Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly being the most notable example) and his sale coincided with a run of three successive league titles for United – mirroring the sequence that had preceded his and Verón’s arrival in 2001.
You can also visit the Transfer Price Index website, which features blogs inspired by the book's unique system for cataloguing and ranking Premier League teams' transfer records post-1992.
