There was one aspect of the deal which took Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Manchester United to West Ham that raised a few eyebrows.
It certainly wasn’t the fee. A £15 million arrangement which represents not only excellent value as far as West Ham are concerned, but a ‘financial profit’ for Manchester United in accordance with those Profit and Sustainability rules.
It was not the statements made by West Ham technical director Tim Steidten either.
The delighted recruitment chief labels Aaron Wan-Bissaka an ‘incredibly talented’ defender before rattling off the attributes that made him such a favourite amongst large sections of the Red Devils’ fanbase, not to mention the dressing room.
The thing that had fans and pundits a little bemused, in fact, was the sheer length of Wan-Bissaka’s contract, until 2031.
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Manchester United sell Aaron Wan-Bissaka to West Ham
Wan-Bissaka’s new deal runs for seven years. A deal that could keep him at the London Stadium until 2031. Until Wan-Bissaka is 33 years of age.
For Simon Jordan, while the finances of the deal made sense for both parties, handing a seven-year contract to a man already aged 26 is a rather strange move.
“Ultimately, if United bought him for £50 million, they’ve just booked a financial profit in that transaction,” the former Crystal Palace chairman tells talkSPORT (13 August, 12pm), Erik ten Hag’s side benefitting from amortisation while freeing up funds to bring in Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich.
“I don’t know why would you want to sign a 26-year-old for seven years? I don’t know that. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Fabrizio Romano’s explanation of the situation – posted on X – may provide an answer.
He says that the contract is so long because West Ham want to spread Wan-Bissaka’s salary over those seven years. This may explain how an agreement was reached in the first place.
The Sun, after all, reported that those wage demands were threatening to collapse the deal just last week.
Wan-Bissaka out, Noussair Mazraoui in
News of Wan-Bissaka’s departure has created a rather mixed cocktail of emotions amongst the Manchester United fanbase.
But while kicking the likes of Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek out the door were easy decisions indeed, this is the kind of difficult decision Ineos signed up for when they seized control of the Premier League giants.
Who, at Man United, are the ‘great’ players? And who are merely the ‘good’ or ‘very good ones’?
“He is a good player,” Jordan argues. “He hasn’t had a great time at Manchester United and some of his limitations offensively were found out, but he played in an average Man United side.
“Aaron is a decent player. Palace did well out of it which is my primary concern and West Ham have got a good defender.”
Now, Wan-Bissaka might not go down in history as a modern day Man United great but Jordan is a little off the mark when he was that the Croydon-born right-back ‘hasn’t had a great time’ at Old Trafford.
He’s certainly had great moments, and some truly great performances. Those Wembley masterclasses in particular come to mind. 15 months after shutting down Allan Saint-Maximin as Man United extended Newcastle’s long trophy drought, the spider wrapped Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku in his net as the FA Cup trophy came home with Ten Hag.
The aforementioned Steidten was quick to mention Wan-Bissaka’s fearsome one-v-one prowess while welcoming the Crystal Palace academy graduate back to London.
“I am delighted we’ve been able to get the deal to sign Aaron over the line,” Steidten tells The Hammers’ official website. “He’s exactly the type of player we’re looking to attract to this club in the prime years of his career.
“He’s an incredibly talented defender who we rate very highly. (Wan-Bissaka is) superb in one-on-one situations.
“He’s versatile too, which is clearly another positive. He’s played over 170 Premier League games during his career – he knows the division inside-out.
“I’d like to personally thank the board for their continued backing to bring players of such quality to West Ham.”
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