Dietmar Hamann has described Manchester United’s failure to land the signature of Pedro as a ‘hammer blow’ to the club.
Pedro was strongly linked with United but title rivals Chelsea appear to have swooped at the last minute to secure his transfer from Barcelona.
José Mourinho and Cesc Fabregas are among those said to have influenced the 28-year-old that London rather than Manchester was the right move. It has also been reported that the winger was put off by rumours of Louis Van Gaal's tough approach.
Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward, who led efforts to land Pedro, has been the subject of strong negative reaction from some supporters.
But Hamann is also of the view that criticism of Woodward is misdirected, with signings such as those of Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Angel Di Maria proving that United and Woodward are capable of landing big-money targets.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Champions League Live coverage on Wednesday night, Hamann said: "When it comes to these decisions, I don’t think Pedro didn’t come to Manchester United because of Ed Woodward. There may have been other issues. Whether the player had Chelsea in mind for the last week or two weeks, we don’t know. Maybe he wants to go to London rather than Manchester."
Woodward has signed Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and Di Maria since Louis Van Gaal took over as manager.
Hamann added: “I think it is unfair sometimes when you blame chief executives. At the end of they day, all they can do is offer the money to the club the players leaves, agree terms with a player and they’ve got to put a price on a player.”
The situation of Di Maria is a case in point. The Argentine forward, an expensive purchase from Real Madrid, has since been sold on at a loss. "Sometimes you have to pull out. With hindsight some United fans would say now ‘we wish we never got Di Maria’ because it didn’t work out and they lost 15 or 20 million within a season."
But the failure to bring Pedro into the club is significant for Van Gaal's side with the end of the transfer window fast approaching and the fact that Chelsea are the beneficiaries will sting even more. "It is a big boost for Chelsea but a hammer-blow for Manchester United. They started the season OK. They need more players, or they need better players and more quality, going forward and it looks like they’ve got to start from scratch again."
