Manchester United lost two of their key players because they couldn’t negotiate good enough contracts for them. Forward Alessia Russo goes to Arsenal and defender Ona Batlle to Barcelona.
English striker Alessia Russo will play next season for Arsenal in the English Super League. Russo, who scored 10 goals in Manchester United last season, is changing clubs because ManU is messing up contract negotiations.
Among other things the Athletic and Manchester Evening News say United could have offered Russo an extension in the 18 months leading up to the deal, but didn’t. According to media sources, the “acceptable agreement” was drawn up just a few weeks before the series finale, but it came too late.
It is again reported from United’s insiders that Russo received a “very generous, strong offer”, which would have made the striker a superior wage queen at ManU. However, the club believes that they will find a replacement whose salary requirements are lower.
– It looks bad both on and off the field in terms of the credibility of ManU’s sports process, says Urheilu’s football expert Jonne Kunnas.
In January, Arsenal offered United almost €585,000 (£500,000) for Russo. If the transfer had gone through, the compensation paid would have been a new record for transfer compensation. Now Russo will join Arsenal on a free transfer as his contract with United expires.
Kunnas states that under no circumstances would it have been worthwhile for ManU to sell their star player to the worst competitor.
– At that time, ManU and Arsenal were fighting for the same places, a place in the Champions League and were both involved in the championship fight. Selling Russo at that time would have looked bad. But now, with hindsight, we can say that the end result was the same without the transfer compensation, Kunnas pondered.
– What happened between the purchase offer and the current situation is interesting. ManU had a long time to go through the contract with Russo, but the club withheld a suitable offer for too long.
United also lost their full-back Ona Batllen. The Spanish defender will play in Barcelona next season. The Manchester club would have liked to keep both players, but were left licking their fingers after the contract negotiations.
– Batlle has the best fullbacks in the world, if not the best. Russo is already one of the best strikers in the world, or at least heading towards it. In addition, Russo was a cover image player for ManU, who was visible outwardly in marketing. Those losses look bad, says Kunnas.
Manchester United won silverware in the English Super League last season and played in the women’s FA Cup final for the first time. The championships in both competitions were won by Chelsea.
United must now find two replacements for their starting line-up. However, they succeeded in scoring last season Leah Galton (10 goals) and Lucia Garcia (8). ManU’s defensive game was also the best in the main series, when the team conceded only 12 goals, but the task becomes more difficult without Batlle.
Alessia Russo’s performances will surely be admired in the World Cup starting at the end of July, because the long-time number one of the English national team Ellen White ended his career for the 2022 European Championships.
Batlle will also be seen at the World Cup, as he changed his mind about not wanting to play for Spain’s head coach Jorge Vildan in the piloting group.
The Women’s World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20. shows all matches of the World Cup on its channels.
Correction 6/20/2023 at 3:01 p.m.: Contrary to what was claimed earlier in the story, Batlle can be selected for the World Cup team.