Fitness issues last season saw Manchester United fork out £26.72m in salary payments to unavailable players.
The figure comes from The Mirror’s report on the growing injury problems among Premier League clubs.
United’s incredible financial outlay on injured players is the highest in the division.
It highlights both the fitness problems of various players at the club and the fortunes spent on lucrative contracts for players who have sometimes been unreliable.
Unavailable for much of the 2021/2022 season, Paul Pogba took home around £290,000 a week even while in Dubai, contributing heavily to the £26.72m figure. sterling.
Perhaps the biggest outlay was on Edinson Cavani, who apparently spent most of his final season at Old Trafford preparing for international duty with Uruguay, before reporting again injured on his return.
Both players have left the club free of charge to the treatment rooms of Juventus and Valencia respectively.
Marcus Rashford also started the season injured following his surgery after a Euros campaign that was, for the player, largely pointless.
His £200k a week will also have put a dent in United’s finances despite the player not being available until the end of October.
He seems to have regained some of the form that made his importance to the team skyrocket under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, having won the Premier League Player of the Month award for September.
Raphael Varane had a torrid moment with fitness in his first season as a red, though Erik ten Hag’s patience in helping the Frenchman return to the squad also appears to be paying off.
With the Qatar World Cup on the horizon, Ten Hag will need to navigate a hectic schedule on both sides of the tournament.
Nine games await him in October alone, and United are certainly hoping that Ten Hag’s intense work over the summer will help prevent a repeat of last term’s physical problems. United Matchday Magazine: The best pre-match experienceThe Manchester derby. Ten Hag’s men are ready. this is huge
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