During Alex Ferguson’s tenure as manager, Manchester United did a decent job of buying and selling, although they weren’t always in control of moves.
In the summer of 2004, United needed to get better. Ferguson’s Red Devils finished third in 2003-04 after winning the Premier League in 2002-03.
The United manager used the transfer market to refocus their strategy after Arsenal’s renowned “invincibles” won the league that season, with Chelsea coming in second.
They didn’t win the Premier League again until 2006–07, and a document that was leaked at the time suggested that Man Utd’s temporary absence from the top place may have been caused in part by the team’s failure to acquire a few key defensive targets.
Five players were designated as “excess” and told to leave Old Trafford, according to the source.
Man Utd management named the whole senior playing team as of April 2004, with custodian Fabian Barthez already out.
The ‘excess’ column contained five players, four of whom were in fact destined to be cut loose.
Nicky Butt, a six-time Premier League champion, was sold to Newcastle United, where he spent the following six years until going on loan to Birmingham City.
Luke Chadwick relocated to West Ham United and continued playing for ten more years, stopping at Stoke City and Norwich City before finally retiring from local football in his native Cambridgeshire.
Despite being transferred by United to rivals Hibernian in 2005, Michael Stewart, a well-known and frequently contentious analyst and co-commentator on Scottish football, was loaned to Heart of Midlothian and finally returned there permanently.
Man Utd sent Diego Forlan, who was circled on the leaked document like Butt, to Spain and sold him to Villarreal, but they were unable to let go of Spanish custodian Ricardo until the end of his contract a year later.
However, the last column, which enumerates four of Ferguson’s defensive transfer targets, may be the most informative.
A youthful Gerard Pique from Barcelona and Gabriel Heinze from PSG were brought in.
However, Ferguson was unable to sign the two players he desired to create his new central defence combination, and one of them went on to lead Manchester City’s comeback.
Vincent Kompany of Anderlecht and Philippe Mexes, a centre-back for Auxerre, are listed as targets in the leaked paper, although neither player would ever play for the Red Devils.
In 2008, Kompany travelled from Hamburg to Manchester City, while Mexes joined with Roma and then AC Milan.
In 2012, the Belgian placed City on the verge of winning their first championship since the late 1960s when he scored the lone goal in a pivotal Manchester derby.
Just as United began a post-Ferguson phase that has left much to be desired, Kompany won the Premier League title three more times.
Ferguson acquired striker Alan Smith from relegated Leeds United and eventually turned him into a midfielder. At the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Ferguson also completed the historic acquisition of Wayne Rooney.
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