Whether it be out of a sense of bitterness at losing out of one of his top targets or otherwise, Sir Alex Ferguson had some choice words on Eden Hazard just over a fortnight ago.
He told Sky Sports: "There is a borderline in terms of what you would think is a good signing for United,"
"I see some values on players, like Hazard for instance. To me it was a lot of money. He's a good player, but £34m?"
Fast forward to the present, and Manchester United are closing in on the signing of Brazilian starlet Lucas Moura, again report Sky Sports.
They claimed yesterday that Sir Alex Ferguson even stayed behind from United's pre-season trip to Norway in a bid to attempt to seal a deal for the player, with conflicting reports over a medical, a claim denied by the Brazilian FA.
Even so - it remains no secret that United are in fact trying to close a deal for Lucas, a 19-year-old Brazilian who plays for Sao Paolo.
The Brazilian club are already reported to have turned down a £27 million bid from the Premier League runners-up, and if a deal is to be done it is expected to be close to £30 million.
Which leaves Sir Alex Ferguson's words over Eden Hazard a little puzzling, and with an air of hypocrisy about them.
The United manager is within his rights to express an opinion on the Belgian, but to go and attempt to spend the majority of United's remaining transfer budget of his own on an equally unproven starlet blunts his sharp criticism of Chelsea paying the big fee for Hazard.
At the end of the day neither Lucas Moura nor Eden Hazard are proven at the top level, and the Belgian - two years older - is the more experienced of the two.
He has also played in Europe, a former Ligue One champion with Lille, while the problems Manchester United have had in getting Brazilians to adapt to the Premier League - Kleberson and Anderson - is well documented.
This isn't to cast aspersions over Lucas, he has every chance of success - but the more United carry on their pursuit of him, Sir Alex Ferguson undermines himself.
image: © marcel sigg
Dan Coombs
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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.
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