Manchester United’s transfer policy under Sir Alex Ferguson is very equivalent to the present-day housing market.
For the majority of Sir Alex’s tenure, United has taken the approach that they would rather build their house from scratch rather than buy one that has been built by someone else.
There will always be critics to this policy, because not everyone agrees with the United manager’s method – the main reasons why these so-called experts disagree is because they not only fear the amount of time and patience that is required, but also the possibility of not being able to produce a highly-sustainable end product.
The start up costs, which is the time spent nurturing a player, for build-to-suit tactic is sometimes more than a manager can handle with all of the pressures put on them by their fans and bosses to succeed.
When one does take on this clean slate approach, the abject questions about the foundations – morals, ethics or fundamentals – are virtually eliminated, because Ferguson is capable of using uncanny, outstanding assessment abilities as to which ideal piece of property he would like to build his house on.
Ferguson then uses the quality raw materials that the player holds to build a fine, well-rounded player that will ensure he has the stability to last the toughest of storms.
When the Gaffer is able watch the progress of the house being built first-hand, then he is able to make sure that the quality of the workmanship is consistent throughout, and if there are any mistakes then they are promptly dealt with when they are originally exposed.
Reverse
To be quite honest, the reverse is sometimes true as well, because it does not always work out when you develop your own player, either.
When the investment of time overshadows the value of the dollar that could have been spent to purchase the same type of player, then it turns out to be an unsuccessful deal.
When the potential talent never comes to fruition, then Ferguson and his trusted advisers should use it as a real life learning experience to find out the positive characteristics are needed in a player.
Purchasing
If you buy a fine, well-built house, there could be cracks in the foundation that were covered up during your initial inspection, but after a while those masking agents begin to breakdown and you eventually see the cracks that were always there.
A lot of modern-day players have been remodeled and have the fine finishes that leave a manager awestruck, and they forget to check the everyday functions of those appliances actually work.
It usually too late to back out of the deal when they have been discovered, which causes someone an unnecessary headache to come up with solutions to not to devalue their other pieces of property.
They might need to spend a lot more of their time and assets attempting to rebuild the problem, which causes a significant decrease in their investment.
Value
Like the current housing market, the price of a decent, sound player is very inflated, and it requires a lot more patience from potential buyers to search for the right one as well.
This is exactly what Sir Alex was trying to convey to the United supporters this summer, but it really fell on deaf ears, because they wanted a high-profile, marquee signing.
The Gaffer acknowledged he inquired about Valencia’s David Villa, but the Spanish forward was already purchased by Barcelona, and the rest of the real estate available was not worth his investment.
When there are affluent bidders, like Manchester City and Real Madrid, who are linked with attaining some of the most recognizable players in the sport, it drives up their value to unrealistic heights.
For instance, if Sir Alex was attempting to lure a player of similar quality of either David Silva or James then that club would want to value and assess their player to be of comparable costs to those players.
This is outrageous – and almost laughable – because in any other transfer window they would go for half of the price they went for.
However, the inflated costs are also one of the main, undocumented reasons as to why the gap between the top clubs in the Barclays Premier League and the rest of is shrinking.
The saying, “One man’s loss is another man’s gain,” can also describe the current market value climate, because United and the other top clubs cannot raid the lesser clubs for their prized assets without over paying for them.
The only thing in life that is certain is uncertainty, so it is imperative and very important that every single one of the 333 million Manchester United supporters respects and trusts Sir Alex Ferguson’s assessment of his own successful, proven transfer policy.
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