Manchester United’s new super-scout Gerardo Guzman could be the biggest signing made on transfer deadline day

WHILE the eyes of the football world were watching clubs scrambling for last minute deadline day deals, Manchester United may have pulled off the biggest signing – completely under the radar.

Old Trafford fans were left disappointed when a top-class central defender was not pictured arriving at Carrington on Wednesday night.

But it is a less high-profile signing – the went completely unnoticed by the Jim White and Co. on Sky Sports News – who is set to have a far greater impact than any potential replacement for dodgy Phil Jones.

Or Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for that matter.

The deal Jose Mourinho got over the line in the dying embers of the transfer window was one for Gerardo Guzman – the super-scout who is the secret of Atletico Madrid’s success.

But who is United’s new chief talent spotter? And is he the man to bring the Premier League crown back to the Red half of Manchester?

Madrid miracle worker

GUZMAN has been credited with unearthing the talent that has helped Atletico rise from mid-table mediocrity to European heavyweights in the last decade.

In two spells with the club, he has plucked the likes of Diego Costa and Antoine Griezmann out of relative obscurity – and seen them become La Liga winners and Champions League finalists.

The Andalusian was employed by Atletico in 2008, and composed a scouting plan to restore past glories of Spanish football’s fallen giant.

Fast forward eight years and Atletico have won two Europa League crowns, two European Super Cups, a Copa Del Rey, reached TWO Champions League finals and, incredibly, beaten Barcelona and Real Madrid to the La Liga title.

And all on a, relatively, shoe-string budget. Well at least until the trophies started rolling in.

Costa was signed from Valladolid for just £850,000 in 2010. A domestic title, a Cup win and a Champions League final later he joined Chelsea for £32million.

Current vice-captain Diego Godin – who Guzman had previously scouted for Villarreal – cost just £6.6m in 2010.

Club hero Filipe Luis was poached from Deportivo La Coruna the same year.

Now-Barcelona star Arda Turan was scooped from Turkey for under £10million the following season.

And prolific Falcao was signed from Porto before being sold for a massive profit to Monaco two years later.

A three-year spell at Malaga – where, incidentally, Real Madrid and Spain midfielder Isco was bought for just £1m from Valencia B – saw the side assembled by Guzman win La Liga win for the first time in two decades in his absence.

While main-man of Diego Simeone’s current side, Antoine Griezmann, joined for just £24m upon Guzman’s return to the Spanish capital in 2014.

The Euro 2016 top scorer is worth three-times that sum now.

Still not convinced? He also unearthed Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla and Spanish World Cup winner Marcos Senna while at Villarreal.

He even took Red Devils strike flops Diego Forlan and Guiseppe Rossi to the Yellow Submarine – where they turned into world-beaters.

Atletico’s ‘Class of 92’?

WHEN joining Atleti, Guzman was instructed that financial limitations meant that FORTY PER CENT of the first-team squad should be made up of players nurtured from youth sides.

And United goalkeeper David De Gea will be the first to attest that he has an keen eye for talent.

The Spain No1 was quickly identified as the biggest talent in the Atletico ranks.