Manchester United suffered another struggle in this summer’s transfer market, with the club leaving it late to get deals over the line on deadline day.
Sofyan Amrabat joined Sergio Reguilon and Altay Bayindir through the doors at Old Trafford in the final hours of the window after weeks of negotiations with Fiorentina.
United eventually struck a loan deal with the Italian club who were looking for a full sale of the 27-year-old.
There is an option to buy Amrabat at the end of the twelve month spell but that will now have an effect on next summer’s budget.
FFP issues were cited as the reason United couldn’t meet the £25million asking price for the Moroccan but financial expert Kieran Maguire claims the Glazers could have funded the deal.
Speaking to Football Insider, Maguire says the United owners could have boosted United’s transfer funds by injecting the club with their own money. This is a way most clubs’ owners are able to fully comply with FFP guidelines.
“Under the present version of profit and sustainability rules as far as the Premier League is concerned, clubs can only lose £15million over a rolling three-year period,” Maguire explains.
“They can increase the allowable limit to £105million if owners inject money into the club in the form of shares.”
The Glazer’s failure to invest has, once more, hamstrung a United manager in the transfer market, leaving Ten Hag short for the opening round of fixtures of the new season which has seen two losses in four games.
Amrabat’s asking price was a drop in the ocean in the current market and should have been sanctioned before the start of the campaign with Fiorentina winning to sell and the player desperate to move.
Furthermore, Ten Hag was hoping to add to his defensive ranks which was no clearer in need of reinforcements than in Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal with United finishing the game with Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire at centre-back.
The news is yet another kick in the teeth to fans who have protested against the current ownership model since the day the Glazers took control of the club in 2005.
Conflicting reports as to whether the Glazers are still open to the sale of United rumble on with a resolution still looking as far away as it did when they club was placed on the market in November of last year.