A Manchester United legend has raised concerns about the summer’s transfer strategy, using two of the signings as key examples to back up his point of view.
In Richard Arnold’s first transfer window as chief executive, United bought six new players: Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martínez, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro, Antony and Martin Dúbravka.
Notably, Arnold handed over to new manager Erik ten Hag the keys to United’s transfer kit rather than an established recruiting squad.
United’s recruitment in recent years has been seen as embarrassingly unhinged compared to rival clubs. It was only last year that a director of football was appointed in the form of John Murtough, who had already worked at the club for half a decade.
Murtough and Arnold’s decision to ostensibly pivot this summer’s strategy around Ten Hag’s preferences and acquaintances, illustrated by the three-month manhunt for Barcelona player and No. 1 target Frenkie de Jong, has raised questions about the long-term planning and the quality of sports operations. inside the club.
De Jong was intended to be United and ten Hag’s main signing with sources pegging the initial budget at around £120m. The Dutch midfielder stayed at Barcelona and United doubled their original transfer spending plan to acquire other targets.
Gary Neville has spoken about this lack of strategy and the confusing transfer budget.
Speaking on The Overlap’s Fan Debate Xtra, Neville expressed his concern, saying:
“Manchester United wanted to spend between £130m and £140m, they ended up spending £230m.
“Obviously we’ve seen it before with the Glazer family: a lot of trouble, protests, throwing the money around to try and appease the fans and basically panic buying.
“The offers from Casemiro and Antony came two days before the Liverpool game, which was obviously a time when they just needed to bring in players.
“It was not the strategy at the beginning of the summer to spend the money that they had spent.”
In his latest tirade against Glazer ownership, Neville provides a good reason to remain cautious about the inner workings and decision-making at United.
The former captain recently began unleashing tirades on American businessmen. The Glazers have pushed United’s debt to over £600m as a result of the leveraged buyout, constant dividends and financial mismanagement and negligence.
Even with the revamped backroom staffing scene, Murtough and his recruiting team have been unable to implement a solid transfer strategy. As Neville highlights, the targets had an inconsistent profile and more funding was only made available after the terrible start to the season.
While the failure at the end of the de Jong saga ultimately led to United spending heavily out of the window and making a “panic buy”, Joel Glazer is said to act as a roadblock against smooth transfer negotiations. He insists on getting involved in the discussions and sanctioning every deal.
