Kenyon must confound critics
The sale of Juan Sebastian Veron may see Sir Alex Ferguson rid of his most expensive misfit but pressure is beginning to bear down on Manchester United plc and chief executive Peter Kenyon.
After the sale of David Beckham for what many see as a cut-price £25m to Real Madrid and the drawn-out farago that was the failure to sign Ronaldinho, the man nicknamed 'Cuddly Pete' by fans is facing severe criticism of his transfer negotiation skills.
Though United have added four players in Tim Howard, Eric Djemba Djemba, David Bellion and Kleberson (subject to a work permit), a big name star is yet to arrive at Old Trafford to replace the stellar talents of Veron and Beckham.
All has gone quiet on who will join United's squad as they prepare to defend their title and begin another assault on the holy grail of the Champions League.
This could be a reaction to the overly-public sagas that surrounded the Beckham, Veron and Ronaldinho transfers. All were played out in the press with rumour and counter-rumour hardly being stemmed by some rather contradictory and conflicting statements from Kenyon and Ferguson.
The Veron deal saw Ferguson state the player would not be leaving United, but this was swiftly nixed by Kenyon stating that the deal would be concluded either way by the middle of this week - thus all but saying that Veron would be sold, as he was at an eventual loss of £13.1m.
So too the Beckham deal. On more than one occasion Kenyon stated that the England captain would remain a Manchester United player.
But Beckham's pre-season has been spent in the Far East and not the United States. And for the fee of £25m, with only £17m being paid up-front and the rest being dependent on Real Madrid's success - and perhaps by proxy, a failure of United - the Red Devils have lost a significant supply of goals and assists as well as a very public face of brand marketing.
This continued a trend of buying high and selling low that has been in evidence since Kenyon succeeded Martin Edwards, who himself famously abhorred the transfer market, as United chief.
When United first went in for Veron they were the only bidders yet ended up paying £28.1m. Then, when Jaap Stam was shown the Old Trafford door he was sold to Lazio for a £16m installments deal, despite United having recently paid the Veron fee up-front and there being other interested parties willing to pay more for the Dutchman.
Lazio consequently went into financial meltdown and have so far failed to meet the demands of the Stam fee.
The next transfer window saw United fail to secure Paolo Di Canio, perhaps the spark that could have lifted the European Cup for United in 2002, when a paltry bid of £1.5m was put to West Ham, who wanted nearer double that. Parsimonious offers for Rennes' Julien Escude and Nicolas Burdisso of Boca Juniors saw United fail to land defensive reinforcement the following summer.
Then there was Ronaldinho. A player clearly wanted by Ferguson, if recent outpourings on what a loss it was to not sign him are to be believed, was available at £21m yet United made bids of first £9m and then £14m. Having verbally agreed to pay the fee wanted, United then made a lower offer by fax to Paris St Germain and the player joined Barcelona.
Fellow Brazilian Kleberson will be joining United, yet the £6.8m fee that Atletico Paranaense player will receive is significantly more than the fee that Leeds agreed to buy the same player for in January. United's wealthy status will always drive the price up, but clubs who are in dire need of cash still seem able to squeeze high fees from Kenyon and co.
At the start of the 2002-3 season, Kenyon told the Daily Mirror: 'We're cash-rich and work on a well-resourced basis... at a time like this, when money is tighter than it has been for a long time, that comes into its own.' Such comments seem ill-starred in the light of United's continued failings at the negotiating tables of European football.
Meanwhile players that United have been long linked with, such as Ricardo Quaresma, Escude and Joe Cole, have joined other clubs in what look like cut-price deals.
While Veron and Beckham's sales have been depicted by Kenyon and Ferguson as 'footballing decisions', there are still departments of the United squad which need adding to.
Of the midfielders available to Ferguson, only Giggs and Scholes would seem to provide creativity though Kleberson remains an unproven quantity. A creative edge, perhaps supplied by a new forward to play behind Van Nistelrooy, is definitely needed, as is a defender to step in after injuries to Gary Neville and Wes Brown and to replace Laurent Blanc.
With three weeks until the close of the transfer window, United require some reinforcement if they are to match the ambitions of their manager.
Whether it is in the public arena or behind closed doors, Peter Kenyon and his negotiating team, of which Ferguson is rarely a part, need to prove their mettle in landing the players their manager and fans want.
Time to prove yourself, Pete.
