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Is Marcos Rojo really what Manchester United want?

By on August 20, 2014

It was the worst kept secret of the summer, but Manchester United fans still gave a sigh of relief when Marcos Rojo was officially unveiled as a Red Devil. Not just because the deal was so complicated and it might not pull through, just a sigh of relief that they got someone. Yet at a club of the level of United, just getting anybody isn’t at all acceptable. Especially a £16,000,000 anybody.

Granted, Rojo is undoubtedly a good player. Moreover, is a perfect fit to held patch the currently non-existent United defense as a left sided defender who can also take a turn at center-back, fitting him right into Louis Van Gaal’s 4-5-1. But Ander Herrera also fits right into Van Gaal’s side. And while Rojo is at least capped by Argentina – in fact, starred for his nation at the World Cup this summer – Herrera hasn’t won a single senior cap for Spain already aged 25. For €36 million you would at least expect a few caps, even if Spain’s squad is quite hard to get into as a midfielder. Cesc Fabregas might be just a few years older than Herrera but nonetheless he has made nearly 100 caps for Spain and cost Chelsea a fee reported to be only a few million more than what United bought Herrera for.

Now, I am not going into Ed Woodward and United’s messed up recruitment system, rather, taking note of the players Woodward has signed. Marouane Fellaini was also one of them, yet another player who might be worth €15 million. However, United paid nearly twice that for him and just one season later is an outcast under Van Gaal, reportedly set to be loaned out to Italy. Certainly, Fellaini was better than United’s options at the time, just as much as Herrera and Rojo are now. But, especially for the price they are bought at, aren’t quite of enough quality to be a starter in United’s side. Van Gaal himself admitted something close to that (before he signed Rojo, though), saying United just need “better players.” Juan Mata seems to be their one recent world-class signing, and even he was a panic buy which both Moyes and Van Gaal have yet to get the best out of. This summer United have spent €93.5 million on three new players, two of which Rojo and Herrera, while Chelsea have spent just €1.5 million more bringing in Diego Costa and Fabregas. By United’s standards those are the players they need to be signing, just one level up.

Rojo is a good signing. He fixes one problem United currently have in their squad. Yet whether he is of the quality of his predecessor, Patrice Evra, is debatable. And United don’t want to have their best player be a full-back. But where it really matters they do need to sign better players than Rojo. At center-back and in the middle, predominantly, as they already have Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie up front. Possibly upgraded wingers as well, while still leaving room for Adnan Januzaj. United don’t need to be spending much more than they already are, but spending it smarter. In the end it all circles back to Woodward.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.