- Feb 8, 2007
- 38,502
- 11,933
The failure to sign Moutinho was an absolute disgrace on the part of Levy.
Bringing in a new coach with the intention of pushing on from the very good job Harry was doing and pushing us to the 'next level' was admirable and ballsy, and the sale of Modric was ultimately unavoidable, but to not sign the one man AVB wanted, and who was available and willing to join for a smaller fee than we obtained for Modric, was a masterclass in undermining your new manager before his first transfer window was even shut.
Wahhhh didn't get a player he wanted shocker. It happens to every single manager at some point. There's no disgrace there. Sealing a transfer is hard enough without having to negotiate with a third party as well. By all accounts we had everything agreed with Porto, then the third party reneged.
You have to wonder why, a few months later, Porto began negotiating to buy out the third party. It was tactical because they wanted to sell and didn't want the third party cocking it up again when the issue is so time-sensitive.