Man Utd blasted for ‘giving up’ on ‘world class’ star and replacing him with €30m ‘dud’ transfer

An ex-Manchester United scout has criticised his former club for their transfer decisions in recent years, including ‘giving up’ on a youngster now starring for Real Madrid.

Polish scout Piotr Sadowski joined United in 2016, having been brought in by Jose Mourinho as part of a scouting revamp before losing his job in 2024 as part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s budget cuts.

Sadowski admitted his time at Old Trafford was ‘frustrating’, in part due to the club’s reluctance to pursue young talent over proven names, which led to Alvaro Carreras being sold to Benfica in 2024 for €14 million before moving to Madrid a year later for €50m.

“Initially, his career path was quite good,” Sadowski told Przeglad Sportowy of Carreras. “He was loaned to Preston, received good reviews, and…United gave up on him, selling him to Benfica for a small fee.

“Carreras is a truly top-class player. There’s a good chance he’ll become the best, or one of the best, left-backs in the world. He scored a beautiful goal recently against Valencia in La Liga. It was a huge mistake for United to let him go.

“So something is missing here and I think that something is United’s lack of courage in investing in young players.”

Patrick Dorgu signing ‘a dud’, claims ex-Man Utd scout

United were linked with a move for Carreras in January, amid Ruben Amorim’s desire to sign a left-back and an appealing sell-on clause which would have given the club a discount on his signing but Patrick Dorgu was instead signed from Lecce for €30m.

Sadowski described Dorgu’s signing as ‘a dud’ and claimed United’s poor results have prevented Amorim from blooding in youngsters or taking chances on less proven players.

“A dud, I definitely agree,” Sadowski said of Dorgu. “And he was brought in for €30 million. Honestly, having recently worked at Blackburn Rovers and operating on a much lower transfer budget, I would have had no problem finding a few players at Dortmund’s level for Manchester United, but not for €30 million, only up to a maximum of four.

“Manchester United have been in crisis for several years now, desperate to return to the top, so they’re wary of bringing in youngsters. Coach Ruben Amorim was supposed to be the one to do this, but the results haven’t been right, so he prefers to buy ready-made players.

“Whether he has anyone to choose from in the backroom is another matter. In my opinion, Harry Amass is the only player currently capable of making it into the United first-team squad after returning from his loan spell [he plays for Sheffield Wednesday]. The club’s biggest shortfall right now is the transfer players.”

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