The Story As We Know It
According to the latest reports, Premier League club Manchester United were closing in towards the signing of Swansea City star winger Daniel James, as he was preparing for his medical at Old Trafford. The official agreement for James would have been announced in a couple of days as Manchester United were hoping to make a bigger splash in the summer over the next few weeks. However, another player who was linked with the Red Devils was Ryan Fraser of Bournemouth.
Manchester United suffered quite a torrid season this term as they finished sixth in the Premier League table and were in dire straits. The 20-time English giants were initially managed by Jose Mourinho but the United faithful weren’t too happy with his defensive style of football and his writing was almost on the wall for 56-year-old. With no results to back lacklustre performances, the ‘Special One’ was given the sack in December after a 3-1 loss to fierce rivals Liverpool as United were languishing far from any solidarity. The Red Devils then turned to a familiar face in the form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to handle the reins on a temporary basis and provide some stability to prevent the ship from sinking further.
Solskjaer’s impact was imminent and he exceeded expectations at Old Trafford with the first few games in charge as he led the club to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in dramatic fashion. United won 3-1 at Parc Des Princes after trailing 2-0 from the first leg of the tie and progressed through to the next round of the tournament. The red half of Manchester also strung together a bunch of positive results in the Premier League that got them competing for a top-four berth.
These impressive performances earned the 46-year-old Solskjaer a three-year contract, but the results weren’t as desirable as they were before his permanent appointment. United crashed out of the Champions League and suffered humiliating defeats towards the final stages of the Premier League season, including a final day 2-0 defeat to relegated side Cardiff City which indicated the amount of work the Norwegian boss needs to do in the summer. Solskjaer has repeatedly stated that he wants to bring in a top-class attacker to bolster his side’s front line in order to compete for trophies and silverware in the near future.
Ryan Giggs is Daniel James’ #1 fan 🙋 pic.twitter.com/t1xjsFdlOj
— GOAL (@goal) June 9, 2019
With the transfer window open now, United were prepared to make their mark on the market and started off by recruiting Swansea City winger Daniel James. The 21-year-old will be was mightily impressive in the Championship with Swansea City, as he scored four times and notched up seven assists as well, attracting interest from the Red Devils.
It is reported that United have shelled out £18m to purchase the services of James and they will be hoping that he blossoms into a key player soon.
Why Not Fraser
The Manchester based side was initially keen on signing Fraser from The Cherries. However, when Bournemouth asked for a fee of £40m for him, Solskjaer looked the other way and brought in his alternate option. Well, only time will tell whether it was the right call to make or not.
