MANCHESTER UNITED are set to make Aaron Wan-Bissaka their fifth most expensive signing of all time and the defender must fight to end the club’s big money curse.
Forking out £50million for the right-back, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer will hope his new arrival follows more in the footsteps of Rio Ferdinand than Angel Di Maria.
Because when the Red Devils break the £50m barrier, it doesn’t usually go well.
Record signing Paul Pogba has turned into a constant scapegoat for club critics after they spent £89m to bring him back from Juventus.
Another member of the current squad who is linked with an exit is Romelu Lukaku, who cost £75m from Everton two years ago.
Argentine winger Di Maria didn’t even last that long at Old Trafford, Louis van Gaal shifting him out after just one season.
Fortunately for United, there is still time for Fred to prove a better buy, a season into his £52m move from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Just behind that figure and now the club’s most expensive ever defender, Wan-Bissaka at least won’t break the bank in terms of wages, his six-year deal paying out £80,000-a-week.
The world record transfer fee that United splashed on Pogba made him the symbol of their inevitable resurgence to the top of the game after their post-Fergie struggles.
Things didn’t unfold that way with poor tactics, immaturity, arrogance and general laziness thrown around as reasons he hasn’t made the desired impact.
Pogba’s quiet form under Jose Mourinho arguably got he manager sacked and, with Solskjaer, he contributed 16 goals and 11 assists last season – although eight were penalties.
Lukaku arrived as a young powerhouse forward, inconceivably shunned by Chelsea and ready to step up from a 26-goal season at Everton.
The Red Devils have since endured the Belgian’s incredible streakiness, defined by the fact he went on a run of six or more games without scoring on four separate occasions last season.
After smashing a considerable 26 goals in his first year at United, he dropped off to a miserly 15 in 2018/19 and didn’t score after March 6.
There was no love lost between Di Maria and Old Trafford when he returned a Paris Saint-Germain player in the spring.
No player celebrated harder as the French champions beat United, the winger revelling in the win as fans booed his every move.
It isn’t hard to see why as Di Maria made a lacklustre contribution in one season at the club. He didn’t score after October and was dropped in early March – then left at a £15m loss.
The major signing of the summer of 2018, Fred hardly hit the ground running and was turfed onto the bench by Mourinho after only three games – two of which were defeats.
After drifting in and out of the Portuguese manager’s plans, it is perhaps even more worrying that he wasn’t able to improve his form under Solskjaer like many of his teammates.
Fred only started 13 Premier League games last season and managed four consecutive outings just once. True to form, United lost three of them.
At the tender age of 21 and with a six-year contract to fall back on, the jury will be out on Wan-Bissaka for some time.
While his shaky form at the Under-21 Euros indicates his shakiness when the pressure is on, United fans can be comforted by his sterling form for Crystal Palace.
At £50m, the Red Devils will hope he bucks the trend and becomes a top quality right-back for years to come.
