Let's examine the transfers United brought in, shall we:
Anderson - a young lad who was a budding star with Porto. He still has a lot of work to put in to become the talent that everyone thinks he can be. Considered to be the more polished of the two young stars purchased. Will he make an instant impact this season? My guess is no. But he will grow tremendously as a player under the instruction of the United staff and United players and could eventually be used in a number of positions within the squad. I want to say that he'll be a Scholes replacement, but I'm still with the belief that Carrick will be assuming Scholes role. Rumoured purchase 17 million pounds? That seems to be the going rate for players that are considered players of the future (ex. Pato. Chelsea put in a bid I believe for 18 million). Anderson is a work in progress and like Cristiano Ronaldo, we shouldn't expect to see Anderson consist week in and week out until the second season. Expect a lot of cameo appearances as a sub in the first team and a lot of play in the Mickey Mouse Cup, early rounds of the FA and if United qualify out of CL group stages quickly.
Nani - Again, another work in progress. Considered a tremendous talent that needs to refine his game in order to be a success. Seems to be in line to replace Giggs in the future. If this is Giggs last season (Praying it isn't... my favourite United player...
) Nani will have a steep learning curve to get up to scratch with life in the EPL rather quickly. Has quick feet, a lot of tricks and is a player in the similar mold to Cristiano Ronaldo. Again, expect Nani to get a lot of cameo first team appearances as a sub in the first team and a lot of play in the Mickey Mouse Cup, early rounds of the FA and if United qualify out of CL group stages quickly.
Hargreaves - Right here is the NOW purchase. Hargo will immediately make an impact on United's first team. Proven ball winner, tremendous engine/stamina, great defender, tackler and will provide an enormous amount of security to United's defense when they are hit with the counter attack. To me, this purchase is the signing of the year for United. We get an immediate upgrade in the midfield with this signing along with someone that has a winning pedigree with Bayern Munich. Don't get me wrong... Carrick was fabulous for us this past season, but you have to remember. His game is built around playing in a upper midfield position with a midfielder covering him (ex. Edgar Davids as cover when Carrick was with Tottenham). So, I'm expecting in the future that Carrick and Hargo will be in the middle if United continue with 4-4-2 play.
Now, to your question. I'm going to have to say 2 out of the 3 transfers are not now purchases. They are purchases for the future of United. We shouldn't expect immediate dividends out of them, because they are still learning, still need to get physically stronger and haven't even had time to adjust as yet. To me, these two purchases are transfers that happened now, but will go against purchases next year and possibly the year after. So don't expect to be seeing this kind of buying next season. Or the season after. So Hargreaves for 20 million and a forward come in. I would count those as purchases for this season and Anderson/Nani as purchases that will go against spending for at least 2 summer transfers in the future.
Since United splashed the cash on Ruud and Veron in the same year, we haven't had a big spending season. This is unprecedented. And we still have another purchase to go. It's a slippery slope we are climbing, because even with the additional monies we are getting from the tv deal, we aren't paying off our debt (well, we are, but not quick enough for me
). United in my opinion, need to start investing more in removing the debt quicker. But with that said... great buys!!!