Manchester United boasted that they scouted 804 right-backs as part of the process that resulted in the signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Scouts first noticed Alex Telles at Galatasaray in 2014, and United began watching Amad in 2016.
Even if United's scouting network is impenetrable, some will inevitably slip through. In 2015, they spent £58 million on Anthony Martial, while Leicester paid £6 million for N'Golo Kante from Caen. A year later, Paul Pogba returned for a world record £89 million, and Chelsea spent £35 million to lure Kante away from Leicester.
Martial was assigned to Monaco, who finished third in Ligue 1 in 2014-15, while Caen finished 13th. Pogba returned to United in 2016, after Didier Deschamps named Kante to France's squad for the first time. Few would have said at the time of Martial and Pogba's transfers that United had bought the wrong Frenchman.
Kante is now one European Championship away from completing the full set of club and international honors: he has Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, and World Cup winner's medals around his neck. In Porto, he was named man of the match against Manchester City.
United are still so bummed out about missing out on Raphael Varane ten years ago that they are considering signing him this summer. Ryan Giggs scouted Kylian Mbappe and thought he could get him for £5 million.
Varane has already left his mark at United despite not having played for them. In successive summers, the academy paid €13 million for French teenagers Hannibal Mejbri and Willy Kambwala. In 2018, the United website advertised for a 'First Team Scout' position in France, tasked with 'identifying world-class and emerging talent for the club.'
Mathieu Seckinger, a youth scout, discovered Mejbri and Kambwala, while the appropriately named Romain Poirot replaced David Friio in identifying first-team targets. Friio, who first met Pogba at the age of 15 in Le Havre, was 'enraged' by United's handling of Pogba's contract negotiations in 2012.
Pogba took the microphone at the Elysee Presidential Palace, where France was celebrating its 2018 World Cup victory, and began a rendition of Kante's chant:
Kante is a pocket dynamo who steals from the great and the good. Pogba described Kante as his most difficult opponent, and the two have engaged in some enthralling duels.
Kante had the upper hand after a £126 million transfer, scoring in Chelsea's league and cup wins at Stamford Bridge, while Pogba was more aggressive in United's convincing win at Old Trafford.
Pogba's silk and steel trumped Kante's silk and steel for the decisive second goal in United's 2-0 FA Cup win at Chelsea in February 2019, and he ran amok with Kante on the bench in the 4-0 victory at the start of the 2018-19 season. With both starting, Pogba has four wins to Kante's three.
Blue and red, small and large, defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder, introvert and extrovert, bargain buy and marquee buy, Mini and Rolls-Royce are the international teammates' polar opposites in every way.
Pogba danced toward the World Cup trophy as if he were John Travolta during a celebration at the Stade de France in 2018. Kante blushed as he applauded the crowd.
It's a shame United - and Chelsea - can't pair them at the club level. Chelsea's chances improve as Pogba's contract enters its final year, but Kante's contract expires in 2023.
When asked if there is a better midfielder in the world than Kante, Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta responded, "A straightforward answer to that question – no."
Last week, the Gallic midfielders were once again polar opposites: winner and loser. Pogba, now 28, continues to be a source of consternation for United. Despite the fact that he has played his best football off the left or from the left of a midfield three, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists on a 4-2-3-1 formation. For the Europa League final, he mistakenly moved Pogba to the middle two.
Pogba may start there for France during the Euros, as he did three years ago in Russia. Pogba's concentration was heightened by the closed environment of an international tournament. "I hope he realizes why he was so good," Mourinho said.
“That is the point about his performance level and contribution to a winning team: to understand why he was so good – especially in the second half of the competition, where he was absolutely brilliant."
Pogba thrived in a 4-2-3-1 formation at the start of his second season back with United, given the freedom to raid while Nemanja Matic held down the fort. Since then, United have neglected the pivot department of their midfield, with Solskjaer frequently relying on Scott McTominay and Fred, an axis that has been unusually disrupted in Gdansk.
"Paul is probably one of the most scrutinized players in the game, and you're talking about a guy who's been to a Champions League final, European finals, and won the World Cup," Owen Hargreaves said last week to the Manchester Evening News.
"When the balance is right, the guy in the right team functions - he's proven that." You can't argue with that. With France, he has Kante and [Blaise] Matuidi, who may have compensated for some of his shortcomings. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a guy."
It is completely implausible for United to finance moves for a marquee defender, midfielder, and forward in the same transfer window. Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho would cost £140 million. Declan Rice would command a higher fee than either of them.
Defensive midfield is an area where they must be inventive. Deschamps called up a young French midfielder earlier this season in Rennes' Eduardo Camavinga, who did not make the Euro squad's final 26-man cut and is represented by the flamboyant agent Jonathan Barnett.
Ryan Gravenberch, Ajax's 19-year-old heir apparent to Frenkie de Jong, would be a daring choice. Yves Bissouma's contract at Brighton expires in two years, and in 2015, United signed Morgan Schneiderlin, a French-born Premier League holding midfielder.
The senior United players quickly concluded that he was not good enough, and Ed Woodward later referred to Schneiderlin as a signing who 'wasn't a Manchester United player.' Back then, the scouting process was insufficient.
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