Making good decisions has not been a strong suit of Man United over the last decade and it looks like the Red Devils have made another strange choice as they rejected the chance to sign Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins in 2023.
Last summer, Erik ten Hag was in the market for a new number nine and there were many names linked to the role at Man United. In the end, the Manchester club settled on Rasmus Hojlund, acquiring the Danish star from Atalanta as part of a massive £72m deal.
The 21-year-old has struggled to establish any consistency at Old Trafford so far, but that may be down to the entire team being a mess over the last season and a bit.
It is easy to see why Man United chose Hojlund as he is young, has plenty of room to develop, and will have sell-on value if things go well.
Despite all this, choosing the Denmark star over Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins seems like a silly decision, which is exactly what the Manchester club did last summer when offered the England international’s services, reports the Daily Mail.
Man United missed out on the incredible 2023/24 campaign of Ollie Watkins
Although Watkins is seven years older than Hojlund, Man United would have had instant success with the Englishman in their team and it could have had a big impact on their season overall.
The 28-year-old was sensational for Aston Villa last season producing 27 goals and 13 assists across 53 games in all competitions. This trumps Hojlund’s numbers by some distance as the United star could only provide his team with 16 goals and two assists across 43 matches.
The Villa striker could have been a big hit at Old Trafford had Man United taken up the offer to sign him, but their loss is Unai Emery’s gain as the Birmingham club continues to go from strength to strength under their Spanish coach.
Who says Watkins was offered to Utd. After the season he had Villa would never have let him go!!
In other news Unai Emery has accepted the Man United job and will take his backroom staff and the entire Aston Villa squad in an unprecendented swap deal.