The Perfect January Buys

ManUtd.com's Mark Froggatt salutes Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, 10 years after they signed for Manchester United in January 2006...

The challenge of the January transfer window is identifying world-class players who are available at the right price, which is far from easy. In fact, it’s almost impossible.

Who wants to sell their best player at the mid-season point, damaging all the good work and momentum gained in the first half of the campaign? The answer is nobody and that’s why asking prices are annually set high in a bid to warn off potential suitors, a simple and primitive tactic that works almost every time.

When you consider this is arguably the most unpredictable Premier League season on record, with teams like Leicester City in the title mix, this January's transfer market is likely to follow suit. Using the Foxes as an example, they will demand large sums for star players Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez in the interests of self-preservation – and who can blame them? There is more money in the top flight than ever before and the supposed smaller clubs are financially closer to the big boys.

However, there is some hope in this month of speculation and rumour. With good scouting and perfect timing, you can unearth genuine gems in the market, just as United did in the January transfer window of 2006, when two relatively unknown defenders arrived at Old Trafford to make an enormous impact.

Yes, 10 years ago this month, Nemanja Vidic (on 5 January) and Patrice Evra (10 January) began iconic United careers that etched their names into the fabric of the club’s history, not only as two of our most decorated players of all time but also as two of the most loved by supporters. Their transfers weren’t expensive or high profile either: the reported fee for Vidic was £7million and Evra was supposedly captured for just £5million. How’s that for good business? It's exceptional value, particularly when you consider Vida's defensive partner, Rio Ferdinand, was bought for a club-record £29.1million four years earlier.
 
Both were two entirely different characters, despite the obvious connections that bound them together. Vidic was lovably intimidating and held a stare that could penetrate your soul, with a nose that was seemingly always dashed with blood, while Evra was infectiously charismatic and galvanising, with an ability to talk with great passion and pride. Together they were archetypal United players who together played 679 matches during one of our most trophy-laden periods. They must surely be our best-ever January buys.

Despite their undeniable success in England, both men endured testing starts to life with the Reds and that is what made them even better signings on reflection. They weren’t instant successes by any means, as emphasised by Evra’s turbulent debut in the Manchester derby when he was substituted at half-time, yet they adapted to new surroundings and quickly mastered the more physically demanding Premier League, proving why patience is needed with foreign recruits at the mid-season point. 

Paul Scholes played with both for seven seasons and admits he was initially concerned about their quality, until the new boys displayed the work ethic that Sir Alex Ferguson put so much faith in. 

"When Patrice arrived, we used to wonder whether the manager had signed a jockey rather than a footballer," Scholes recently told The Independent. "There was hardly anything of him. Gradually, however, his personality emerged. This was one tough player, who was determined that he was not going to be brushed aside and become one of the forgotten men at United. He stuck out his chest and got on with it.

"There was nothing of Nemanja when he arrived either. He was skinny and relatively easy to push off the ball. Like Patrice, he took a battering in his first few weeks at the club – in training as well as matches. For the next year, every time I walked past the gym, I would see Nemanja in there lifting weights. He turned himself into a big, strong centre-half who was capable of knocking strikers out of the way."

Culturally, they also showed willingness to learn about United and Patrice, in particular, spoke about buying DVDs from the Old Trafford Megastore for some extra curricular homework. "The DVDs were about the Munich disaster and the Busby Babes, about Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law, about Cantona," he said in 2010. "It was the whole story of the club. You meet these people around the club and I wanted to know who they were, what they had done for the club, out of respect. When you shake the hand of Sir Bobby, you can feel the legend. All the young players need to understand the history."

The transfers of Vidic and Evra set a benchmark for January signings that stands today. We all love big-name arrivals who sign for massive fees; it’s undeniably exciting, yet I’d argue as many Reds embrace the low-key acquisition of players they haven’t necessarily heard of but know have been thoroughly scouted. Measured moves into the market for players who are tailor-made to improve the team.

Take the recent example of Matteo Darmian, our flourishing full-back whose unexpected arrival from Torino became ManUtd.com’s third most-read story of 2015, beaten only by Bastian Schweinsteiger's arrival from Bayern Munich and a club statement on David De Gea's future. This is arguably due to him being a relatively unknown quantity, yet his performances quickly made it clear he was a top talent. Fans love that because it shows the scouting network is working, and for once the papers weren't all over it.

This January, fans are keen to see a fresh face at the club with the buzz and the excitement it brings but United need men who can excel at the highest level and they are not easily signed mid-season. But you never know what might happen: I’d take two more players of Vidic and Evra’s quality any day of the week.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be considered as representative of Manchester United Football Club.

Credit: Manutd.com