Manchester United meted out one of Chelsea’s most complete tactical defeats in their mid-April fixture. The Red Devils took their wily maneuvering into the transfer market, and have played Chelsea to perfection.
Much like the final scenes in a spy novel or detective show, the extent of Manchester United’s subterfuge in moving for Romelu Lukaku is unfolding piece by piece. Far from being an opportunistic last-ditch swoop, United engineered the entire situation. If there was any surprise along the way, it was how gullibly Chelsea played their part as the dupe.
Chelsea’s first mistake was trusting Lukaku’s agent Mino Raiola. Raiola is Manchester United’s shadow technical director. More so than most middle-men, Raiola plays to his own advantage as much – likely more – than his clients’. In United and Ed Woodward, he has found the perfect partner: a team that spends first and asks questions later, if at all.
Lukaku would be the fourth client Raiola has placed at United in two years. Raiola took home (I won’t say “earned” or “made”) £42 million on Pogba’s transfer alone. Reports on Friday said that Raiola would get £10 million less on a sale to Chelsea than a sale to United. That gives Raiola 10 million reasons to manipulate and cajole all sides to get Lukaku to Old Trafford.
Told Lukaku has decision to make - financial one to suit Raiola's agenda, or sporting one to realise personal desire to return to Chelsea
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) July 7, 2017
Manchester United used Alvaro Morata and Nemanja Matic as distractions in the Lukaku chase. Matic was actually a double-dummy, covering up the Red Devils’ real interest in Eric Dier.
As July 1 approached, United seemingly withdrew from the Lukaku chase and intensified the chatter around their approach for Morata. The competition appeared over, and each club-player tandem seemed content and on the verge of signing.
Chelsea took the bait and moved at a leisurely pace for Lukaku. Raiola was more than happy to dance with the Blues as they tried to play for a better deal. Meanwhile, he continued negotiations covertly with Manchester United.
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At the same time, United opened talks with the Blues over Nemanja Matic. Chelsea were happy to have a club offer the upper limits of Matic’s value. With Tiemoue Bakayoko seemingly on the verge of completing his transfer to Chelsea, the Blues’ midfield looked set to be one-in-one-out with a decent balance sheet.
But Manchester United never wanted Matic. As Matt Law noted Friday, United knew that Chelsea would never sell them Matic if they thought they were also going to sign Lukaku. United’s ardently feigned interest in Matic supported the illusion that they were not challenging for Lukaku.
This whole time, United wanted Tottenham’s Eric Dier. On nearly every conceivable measure – from playing statistics to the fact that Jose Mourinho did not give Dier the most embarassing moment of his career, as he did Matic – Dier is a better player and better fit. Manchester United with Eric Dier is much more dangerous than Manchester United with Nemanja Matic. But Chelsea took United at face value – again – nodding happily that all was well.
Even if Chelsea somehow open pre-season on Monday with Romelu Lukaku and Tiemoue Bakayoko in Blue and Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic elsewhere, this transfer window has been an unadulterated embarassment. Manchester United outplayed Chelsea at every turn. Strategy, communications, negotiations, guile, man-management, timing – United prevailed in every aspect.
Next: Chelsea's youth academy: Does it matter if most never play for Chelsea?
It was like Eden Hazard vs. Arsenal’s defence. Unfortunately, Chelsea were Francis Coquelin.