One noteworthy point is that Manchester United's transfer record was set a decade ago.
In August 2016, Man United spent 89 million pounds to bring Paul Pogba back from Juventus. At that time, this was a shocking deal and considered an investment far exceeding the general level of the market.
After 20 transfer windows, that record has not been broken. This partly reflects Man United's problems since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013. They have never returned to the Premier League throne, while the cost control policy under the Glazer family also limited Man United's ability to spend money.
The arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe from February 2024 has led to a strong financial review. "The Red Devils" want to reduce costs and rebuild the operating structure, but this process cannot create a clear change on the pitch. This summer's transfer market further highlights the gap between Man United and direct competitors.
Carlos Baleba is the clearest example. Man United has just completed the deal to recruit the Cameroonian midfielder with an initial fee of £65 million, plus an additional £5 million. This is a large investment for M.U, but in the current Premier League context, this number is no longer too special.
Tottenham has spent a total of 185 million pounds for Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, while other big clubs are also willing to spend huge sums of money. The total spending of Premier League clubs in the summer has exceeded 2 billion pounds and is still likely to increase before the deadline of September 1.
In that race, Man United has to calculate every expense. They still want to add a left-back to compete with Luke Shaw, but the current priority is to find a plan with a reasonable fee. Man United does not accept the price Barcelona offered for Alejandro Balde and is said to have offered a loan deal. Jorge Salinas of Racing Santander is also on the list of options, with a release clause of about 13.6 million pounds.
Lewis Hall is the target that is rated higher, but Newcastle has no intention of selling this defender. With the current financial situation, Man United is also difficult to make an offer strong enough to make the opponent change their position.
This is a consequence of past commitments. According to the latest financial report mentioned, Man United still has 405.75 million pounds of unpaid transfer fees, of which 171.14 million pounds have been overdue for more than a year. The salary fund also continues to put pressure on the budget.
Marcus Rashford's £325,000 a week contract, signed in July 2023, once caused much controversy. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has also repeatedly mentioned the situation of Man United paying too high salaries to some players.
Manuel Ugarte is another case. "The Red Devils" spent 50 million pounds to bring the Uruguayan midfielder from PSG in 2024, and also pay him a salary of about 150,000 pounds per week. When contributions have not met expectations and the player is having physical problems, such investments become a burden that the new leadership wants to avoid repeating.
Returning to the Champions League brings significant revenue to Man United, estimated at about 50-100 million pounds. However, success on the pitch also entails financial obligations. Some players such as Mason Mount and Andre Onana once had a clause to automatically increase their salaries by 25% when the team won the right to participate in the most prestigious tournament in Europe.
Man United has now adjusted this mechanism, requiring players to play at least 60% of the team's total minutes to receive a salary increase. However, commitments from old contracts continue to affect their ability to operate in the market.
