Man Utd moves: Real Madrid praised for dumping ageing trio ‘it was time’ for on United as Mbappe claim made

Thierry Henry has praised Real Madrid for knowing “it was time” to freshen up by letting an ageing trio leave for Manchester United, ahead of the potential signing of Kylian Mbappe.

United’s transfer history of late has been mixed. The majority of big-name players who have walked through the door have failed to cover themselves in glory.

A club who have boasted the likes of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro should, on paper, have challenged for titles each year.

However, while they were all useful assets, none of those players fully lived up to expectation, and United have finished in the Premier League’s top two just twice since their last title win in 2012/13.

For most, there is a theme: they were already past their best when they headed to Old Trafford. Ibrahimovic was 34 when he made his move and Ronaldo was 36.

While Casemiro was 30, and conceivably had some good years yet to go, it’s been suggested by Jamie Carragher that the five-time Champions League winner’s “legs have gone” in just his second season after leaving Real.

There has also been a lot of talk about his teammate Raphael Varane moving on after falling out of favour under Erik ten Hag, and Ronaldo lasted just a season-and-a-half back in Manchester before a public fallout saw him leave.

All of those three men were signed from Real Madrid, and the La Liga giants have garnered praise from Premier League legend Henry for dumping them on United at the right time.

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Henry praises Real for knowing ‘it was time’

“The one thing they do ever so well is they know when to get rid of players. I am not talking about the players that are logical to get rid of. I am talking about it was time for Ronaldo,” he said on CBS Sports.

“It was time for Casemiro. It was time for Varane, which was more, I think, of a knee issue, if I understand well.”

Indeed, while United signed the big-name trio expecting they would still be big players, they’ve not got an awful lot of quality out of them – Casemiro played well last season, but has been sidelined for a lot of this campaign; Varane has also had his share of injuries and is no longer a first-choice option.

Ronaldo was United’s top scorer for one season, but they essentially got nothing out of him after that, as he then moved on the next winter, and while Real would not have known that would happen, they knew they’d got the best out of the other pair.

Mbappe signing tipped to help Real dominate

On top of ushering out ageing players, Henry has praised Real for signing top quality young players, and feels Mbappe could be the next, and that signing will help them to dominate for years.

“There’s one thing you have to give them [Real Madrid] a lot of credit for, the ability they have to make sure they build a team with keeping some of the old guard with them to make sure that they can explain to the guys coming, the young guys coming,” Henry said.

“If you look at it, if Mbappe goes there, they’re going to have a team that can be dominating Europe and dominating their league for maybe six to seven years because they’ll all be young.”

While the moves were over a year ago, that they got decent funds from Casemiro and Varane means there’s money in the bank for Mbappe, something Real likely wanted to ensure given the striker has been on their radar for some time.

United also want to sign the superstar in the summer, and reportedly sent a huge contract offer to him recently, but it was stated he only has eyes for Real, so the Spanish side could get another one over on the Red Devils.

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