Valencia was an established player who cost 17M. I used the word 'punt' in my post. All players are gambles to a degree, but I was talking about buys for modest sums, less than would be expected for a regular United first teamer, in the hope they would develop into such a player.
Hernandez is not a regular first choice, and probably won't become one. But there's no doubt that his value has appreciated since we bought him, and he was both a bargain, and a good purchase.
Jones and De Gea were bought for big money.
There's no point in speculating about what players might or might not become. I confined my argument to players who were more or less proven or disproven.
Let's not nitpick about the time frame. My point is fairly clear. In recent years, the policy of identifying young 'diamonds in the rough', bringing them to OT for small or modest sums, and growing them into United quality players, has not yielded much gold. That doesn't stop me having great hopes for Powell though.
I know nothing about Zaha, but like some other posters, I'd prefer us to spend bigger and get more proven players. It's not as if we can't afford it.
