All good managers make some errors in their managerial career and this might be one of those moments that Solskjaer may regret, in the upcoming season. His decision to renewing the contract of Ander Herrera may hurt him as bad as Unai Emery’s decision of Aaron Ramsey leave Arsenal. If any Spaniard should have possibly left Manchester United, it should have been the ageing Juan Mata, who rather looked out of sorts in the previous campaign, as age is catching up with him.
Despite that, the Norwegian took a call and let Ligue 1 champs Paris Saint-Germain grab hold of one of his priced assets for free, which can be a huge mistake in the long run as Beyond The Posts understands. With that being said, PSG will be more than happy that they could get this deal done and the reasons are quite clear and simple.
Herrera has been one of United’s better players over the years and in a campaign that saw its ups and downs, he stood firm during the tough times too and backed his managers. What started under former boss Jose Mourinho, to an interim manager Solskjaer and eventually ended with him getting the permanent job, things were not at all simple at The Theatre of Dreams.
With that being said, losing him for free would never do justice to the calibre of the player. He had been growing over the years and though just a couple of years younger than Mata and one less than Matic, he looked way better than them in terms of fitness and work-rate.
His versatile style of play also gave the manager an additional option while falling back or pushing ahead, as and when he needed to be played. This will surely be missed if Solskjaer ever ends up having a few players on that dreaded injury list in the upcoming term.
Though Herrera was never a highly-recognized play-maker, it is also a well known fact that he could create goals with his sheer hard-work and was a decent finisher as well. He was not a player that was a prolific goal-scorer either, but did just enough to make a name for himself.
Due to this, letting him go for a free transfer could be something that the team may regret now. There is no denying the fact that youngsters like Scott McTominay did make a name for themselves towards the business end of the season, but whether he can keep up the level of performances right through an entire campaign, only time will tell.
For now, it just does not seem to be the best decision to sell a player who performs for his manager for nothing at all. However, what kind of impact this decision has the team and the level of performances, only time will tell. Hopefully, Solskjaer can deliver the right kind of results and this poor decision is forgotten with time. If that does not happen, it will haunt him for the rest of his life for sure!!
