David Moyes is certain Marouane Fellaini will prove to be a massive success at Manchester United.
But Old Trafford fans will wonder why the Belgian was United's only big acquisition while Arsene Wenger splashed out a club record fee, believed to be £43m, to bring German international Mesut Ozil to Arsenal.
Moyes paid £27.5m to prise the 25-year-old Fellaini from Everton - after chaotic and, at times, shambolic deadline-day dealing.
A decision to let a clause in Fellaini's contract expire at the end of July backfired as it ended up costing United an additional £4m, turning him into the fourth most expensive purchase in the Red Devils' history.
However, having worked with Fellaini for five years at Goodison Park, Moyes is aware of the former Standard Liege man's qualities.
He said: "Marouane is not someone you want to be playing against. He has attributes other people don't have. I am sure he will be a big player for Manchester United."
The Scot - who took over from Sir Alex Ferguson in July - will be relieved to bolster his midfield options. With Paul Scholes retired and Darren Fletcher no nearer making a comeback from a chronic bowel condition, United desperately needed reinforcements and Fellaini provides a variety of options.
"He can play higher up the field if we need him to, just behind a main striker," said Moyes.
"He can play as a defensive or holding midfield player. In fact he is comfortable in any position in the middle of the field.
"It was definitely a position where people would say we were short. I am glad we have got him."
United failed in a late move for Real Madrid left-back Fabio Coentrao after a bid to sign England full-back Leighton Baines was rejected by Everton.Ozil said he decided to join Arsenal when it became clear he no longer figured in the first-team plans of Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti following the world-record signing of Gareth Bale from Tottenham
The 24-year-old German World Cup player has no doubts he can take his game to a whole new level at the Emirates Stadium to repay the faith of manager Arsene Wenger.
He said: "I was certain I would stay at Real Madrid, but I realised I did not have the faith from the coach or the bosses. I am a player who needs this faith and that is what I have felt from Arsenal, which is why I have joined.
"Wenger gives me the faith and I can develop further. I know what I can do and I know that I could make the grade with any club in the world."
The news of Ozil's departure caught his former Real Madrid team-mates unawares.
Defender Sergio Ramos said: "If it was up to me he would be one of the last players to go. But he and the club have made their decision and I can only wish him the best. He's a unique player and it's a shame."
Madrid playmaker Isco, who joined from Malaga this summer, said: "It has surprised me. Ozil has a lot of quality and is a player who is capable of changing a game."
Alvaro Arbeloa said: "It's a big loss to the dressing room. He's very different, there's no player like him in the world. He makes the difference on the pitch."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article