Siddharth Juyal
Manchester United chief faced ridicule following a £50 million bid for Evan Ferguson
Manchester United chief John Murtough felt humiliated as Brighton & Hove Albion mockingly shrugged off the club’s £50 million bid for Evan Ferguson, according to ESPN (h/t express).
The Red Devils had a list of strikers in mind during the summer transfer window before they signed Rasmus Højlund for £72m.
United boss Erik ten Hag wanted to bring in a striker as a priority as the club struggled to get goals last season. The Red Devils had the least number of goals among the top six clubs last season with just 58 goals.
Ferguson had an incredible breakthrough campaign for Brighton last season at just 18 years of age. The forward scored 10 goals in 25 appearances he made while producing three assists. The Irish international has also scored four goals while featuring in the five games played so far this season.
Ferguson’s ability at such a young age earned him praise from many pundits and legends. Newcastle United legend and holder of most Premier League goals, Alan Shearer wrote this about Ferguson on the Athletic:
“Left foot, right foot, headers, pace, aggression, intuition; there is no obvious weakness to his game, which is only going to get better and better. He has the lot.”
Brighton have earned the reputation of getting the maximum value from their assets whenever they decide to sell. There is no way they would have sold the 18-year-old wonderkid for just £50m given how inflated the market was.
Brighton cashed in on their first-team players like Alexis Mac Allister, Robert Sanchez, and Moises Caicedo over the summer. The amount they accumulated from the sales was so massive that they simply had no urgency to sell any more players.
It would have taken a crazy amount of transfer bids from United to lure Ferguson. United made the wise decision to change their target and bought Højlund. The 20-year-old Dane impressed the Old Trafford crowd with his performance against Brighton despite the home team losing the game 1-3.
More Manchester United News
- Former Premier League referee Mike Dean clarified why Rasmus Højlund’s goal didn’t stand
- Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen praises “hard-working” Hannibal Mejbri amidst defeat
- Manchester United are linked with a shock move for Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry
Ferguson has had a tremendous start to the new season for Brighton. It’s uncertain which top club will come for the Irishman and when he will decide to move on. The 18-year-old is sure to have many top European clubs competing for his services in the future.
