United being left behind by game’s elite
FOR a few disastrous days in April 2021, the Glazer family had committed United to a European Super League project.
The woefully thought-out conception of the ESL resulted in its death within 48 hours, with the English ‘six’ beginning the retreat.
Although Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus cling on to the idea of its resurrection, the prospect of any Premier League club joining them looks remote.
In reality, the only super league in Europe now is the Premier League. With Nottingham Forest, the 20th club to secure their place in football’s goldmine, about to catapult their summer spending past the £100m mark, the rest of the continent can only look enviously towards these shores and the spending power of English clubs.
According to the reputable Transfermarkt website, Premier League clubs have already spent £1.3bn on new signings this summer. To put that into context, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 clubs have spent £1.6bn between them.
It would be no surprise if the Premier League’s spend by the end of the window eclipsed the four other major leagues combined. The financial effects of the pandemic, which hit European clubs far harder than those in the Premier League, have effectively turned England’s domestic competition into a super league, but it’s one United are now finding it hard to compete in under their current owners.
The Glazer family’s lack of care and attention to what should be their prize asset has allowed it to be overtaken by all of its big six rivals and now bridging that gap is going to be difficult.
The owners have been asleep on the job for a decade and now preach a financial model of sustainability, but the failure to qualify for the Champions League has left United with a budget of only around £120m this summer and it simply isn’t going to stretch far enough.
While that approach remains in place, United will be left behind by City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal, no matter how good a coach Erik ten Hag is.
The chances of the Reds qualifying for next season’s Champions League already appear slim given the lack of serious investment in the playing squad this summer.
The five clubs who finished above them last season have all got a better squad than they did 12 months ago. United haven’t. Maybe the ultimate indignity of this transfer window will be the embarrassing bid to sign 33-year-old Marko Arnautovic from Bologna, a deal that it’s hard to see any other Premier League club pursuing. Or maybe the biggest indignity is still to come. United have spent three months trying to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona but could now see Ten Hag’s top target end up at Chelsea instead.
Todd Boehly, the new owner of the Londoners, took over a club that had finished third in the Premier League, but if deals for De Jong and Wesley Fofana are completed he will have spent around £300m on improving Thomas Tuchel’s squad this summer. Under the Glazers, United can’t compete.
The five clubs who finished above United last season have all got a better squad than 12 months ago. United haven’t.
It’s difficult to see how that changes in the short term.
Ten Hag might develop these players and the signs were promising in pre-season, but the return to competitive action brought a familiar result.
Dating back to last season, this is a team that has now lost six of its last nine games.
A prudent approach to the transfer market can bring success, but you need some good fortune as well. Liverpool haven’t spent as much as City, but they managed to sell Philippe Coutinho for £142m.
United have raised £10m this summer from selling Andreas Pereira but have failed to raise funds for any of their unwanted defenders so far.
If United continue to pursue a parsimonious approach in the transfer market, then it is difficult to see how their fortunes change imminently.
It already feels like Ten Hag faces a fight to get this squad into the top four and the fact the Dutchman has controlled this window suggests either United’s scouting structures are completely inadequate or they remain in thrall to the office of the manager.
There is still time for the Reds to strengthen before the September 1 deadline, but with the budget they have it’s difficult to envisage a way they can get close to having the strength of the clubs they are attempting to chase down.
United are at risk of being left behind, if they haven’t been already.