Manchester United surprised pretty much everyone in football yesterday by activating Youri Tielemans’ £35 million release clause. While the club definitely needed a central midfielder, the Belgium international hadn't been linked with Old Trafford at all. There's no doubt Tielemans has quality, and that agreed fee is more than fair, but for fans, there's a real sense of frustration because this deal could have been so much better if the club had been braver. If he hits the ground running, maybe we all forget this, but United *has* to learn from its past mistakes with this transfer.
Another Missed Opportunity on the Books?
Think about it: United could have landed Tielemans for absolutely nothing back in 2023 when he left Leicester on a free transfer. He'd been consistently impressive ever since coming to Leicester on loan from Monaco, and he even scored the only goal in the 2021 FA Cup final. He couldn't save them from relegation in 2023, but when he announced he was leaving, United had been scouting him since 2016! Instead of signing him for free, they shelled out £55 million for Mason Mount. This isn't just one isolated incident, either. United has missed a ton of chances to sign promising players for a cut-price fee over the last decade, and INEOS really needs to get this straight if they ever want to challenge for the Premier League title again.The £100 Million Question No One Can Answer
Just look at Carlos Baleba. United first scouted him when he was an unknown talent at Lille. They were impressed, and he was available for around £30 million. Did they make a move? Nope. They waited until Baleba had moved to Brighton, proved he was a perfect fit for the Premier League, and then made him a top target last summer. Suddenly, he had a £100 million price tag on his head. How is it that fans are supposed to understand why the Red Devils waited for a massive price hike before showing interest? Is it that United doesn't trust themselves to develop players like smaller clubs do? Or are managers over the last decade just too resistant to giving younger players a chance? Maybe it's both. And if they hadn't been so reluctant to embed young talent, Jude Bellingham might have been rocking Old Trafford instead of Signal Iduna Park right now.The Proven Talent Trap That Cost Millions
Before INEOS took over sporting ops, United mostly just chased "proven," "world-class" players. Guys like Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho, and Casemiro all arrived for inflated fees with huge fanfare. But none of those signings lived up to expectations. What's worse? They all left the club as free agents, meaning United didn't recoup a single penny of those exorbitant transfer fees. It just reinforces how completely unsustainable that previous business model was. It desperately needed to change, and this Tielemans deal, even with his quality, has fans asking: have they truly learned anything?This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.