WHY SAY ANYTHING?

In fact, they have missed out on more of their preferred targets than they have actually signed.

A lot of this has only been happening in the last few years as other clubs, around Europe in general and the Premier League in particular, have grown thanks to the amount of TV money now on offer.

Twenty or so years ago, the main competitors when United were interested in buying a player would be Liverpool, maybe Arsenal and that would be just about it from the Premier League. At that stage players were not moving around Europe as much so no interest would be expressed from the likes of Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Roman Abramovich had not yet decided that Chelsea would be the new toy with which he would relieve his boredom and Sheikh Mansour was a while away from turning Manchester City from being a football club into being a project.

City had, in fairness, their fair share of big transfers and there were even times when they held the British transfer record but it was all part of a master plan of mis-management which would eventually see Peter Swales replaced as chairman and the ball slowly start to roll towards them becoming what they are today, with stop-offs in the old second and first divisions on the way.

Yes, back in those days, United invariably got who they wanted. Now that is not always the case.

Of course it is true to say that the press coverage of the transfer market is also a lot more widespread nowadays and if United were really to buy all the players they were supposedly interested in, not only would they spend billions but they would have a squad so large that it wouldn’t be allowed in the league!

The problem now is that the players in whom they have a genuine interest have more of a choice. In this day and age the modern footballer has the whole of Europe open to them, America (if they are of a certain age), and China (If they are of a certain greedy mentality).

If the Premier League is the objective of a top player he now has a choice. Yes, Manchester United is still there, but only as one of a number of clubs to which that player may choose to go.

If his ambition is to play in the Champion’s League (and it usually is), he will move to one of United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool. Even the likes of West Ham United and Everton are beginning to have designs on those top four places and may very well become an option in the near future.

If the player is really top, top drawer then he will usually narrow his options down to three teams. Those will be Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea although again, the other clubs in the top six are coming more and more into this picture. Recent history tells us however that, if the player isn’t happy just competing and would prefer to actually win trophies, then his chances are greater at one of the the three first mentioned.

So Cristiano Ronaldo will not be returning to Manchester United and Gareth Bale won’t be swapping Madrid for Manchester. Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr and Luis Suarez seem to be happy where they are, even Antoine Griezmann, in a warped show of loyalty to a club found guilty of breaking the law, will be staying in Spain. Harry Kane, Spurs fans will be happy to hear, won’t be leaving White Hart Lane, (or Wembley, as it is now known), any time soon and Romelu Lukaku will go to Chelsea.

These are just a few of the players who have been linked with a move to United in the recent past. Some of those links have been entirely fanciful and some have been real. The fact of the matter is that none of these players is at Old Trafford.

Manchester United is still among the top clubs in world football and is still a major draw for most players. It isn’t that United have lost any of their magical attraction, it is just that some other clubs have found the recipe for it and are now competing at the same level.

There are even some teams who don’t have the magic but they do have the money and, to some players, this in itself will always be a magical attraction.