Manchester United’s poor business in the transfer market has been laid bare after a new stat was revealed this week.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed manager in 2018 United have the highest net spend in English football with a staggering £312.1 million.
This is £30 million more than second placed Arsenal and puts into context the club’s poor strategy over recent years.
In comparison Liverpool, who beat United 5-0 recently and have won both the Champions League and Premier League in that time span, have a -£3.6 million net spend.
While Manchester City (£199.6 million), Chelsea (£82.1 million) and Leicester (£54.9 million) have all spent significantly less and been able to win trophies.
United has the highest net spend in English football since Ole was appointed – £312m spent in the last 3 years, whereas Liverpool who beat us 0-5 last week – have a -£3m net spend. pic.twitter.com/Fxa245J6md
— #PochIn (@IntegralMUFC) October 30, 2021
The issue stems from the Old Trafford club’s inability to move players on for an kind of notable fee.
Handing fringe players long contracts to increase their worth ends up with average players sticking around with no interested clubs in sight and only serves to bloat the squad.
While Solskjaer has been able to shift most of the deadwood such as Marcos Rojo, Alexis Sanchez and Matteo Darmian, any player they do get rid of is practically given away.
And this summer they failed to agree deals for Andreas Pereira (who eventually went out on loan) and Jesse Lingard (still part of the squad).
Dan James’ sale to Leeds this summer was just the fifth player the club had made a profit on this decade, a worrying stat and something new chief executive Ricard Arnold must improve.
While splurging huge transfer fees on players has not helped either, United have a worrying issue with player sales that must be addressed.