How United's past struggles in the transfer market are coming back to haunt them

 It's been 45 days since United started their pursuit of Bryan Mbeumo and it has ended with United giving Brentford exactly the amount of money they wanted. Since the retirement of David Gill as Chief executive of the club in 2013 and the arrival of Ed Woodward it's been quite a circus in the transfer market. John Murtough and Richard Arnold were never up to the task and the Glazers were guilty of employing non-football people in these positions. INEOS finally have a structure in place and although the job INEOS have done so far is hardly better than their predecessors, they are also paying the price of past mistakes in the transfer market. Here's what everything has gone wrong for the English Giants in recent years.

Post Gill Chaos: How the Circus begin

United fans have always been critical of the Glazer ownership for various reasons but since the retirement of David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson, transfer market performance has also been added to the list. The signs were there before Ed Woodward arrived at the club, when after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in 2009, the club hierarchy gave Sir Alex Antonio Valencia and a declining Michael Owen as the replacements. But the circus started when Ed Woodward was announced as the new chief executive of the club.

When Ed Woodward arrived at the club he made a statement before the transfer window ," We can do things other clubs can only dream of in the transfer window.". There were rumours that a number of world class players would join United including the likes of Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas. The transfer window ended with the only signing being Marouane Fellaini on deadline day. By the next transfer window, David Moyes was sacked and Louis Van Gaal arrived at the club. Woodward, after his horrible first window went on a series of overpayments through the next few years. 

Ed Woodward with Avram Glazer

United would just go and pay whatever the player's club asked for. No negotiations. Fred for 52 million, Paul Pogba for 88 million, Harry Maguire for 80 million are just few of the examples. Giving Alexis Sanchez 500k a week was a disastrous decision and the big name signings of Falcao and Angel Di Maria did not work out. This gave United a reputation in the transfer market of overpaying and it did not end there.

False dawns and Familiar Failures

John Murtough and Richard Arnold took over the transfer business after Ed Woodward resigned following the failure of the European Super League in 2021. The arrivals of Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo gave the fans hope that finally they will do better in the transfer window. But United failed to sign the one player that Solskjaer was asking for. A defensive midfielder. The new duo in charge were the same going after the big name signings. United was well and truly a commercial club. This led to Solskjaer getting sacked and the fiasco with Ralf Rangnick when he resigned before taking over as the director of football. 

John Murtough and Richard Arnold failed spectacularly at the club

Erik Ten Hag's first transfer window was nothing short of a disaster for the club. The payment of 100 million for Antony still has effects on the financial fair play and PSR of the club and the signing of Casemiro for 70 million ensured that there will be no resale value for him. United were not only horrible buyers but also woeful sellers of players. In the last decade United have profited from the selling of only one non academy player - Daniel James. 

There was a lack of clear planning and a prioritization of commercial appeal over squad balance. Because of this United have fallen behind their rivals both on and off the pitch. The club overhauled it's football operations but even the current management is repeating the mistakes of the past. 

New Faces, Same Old Problems

When Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought the stakes at United, the first move was to get Omar Berrada from City. Involved in the city group since 2011, he was seen as quite the coup. More distinguished names joined such as Jason Wilcox, Dan Ashworth and Christopher Vivell. But the mess has still not stopped. As the saying - "Too many cooks spoil the broth" , Ashworth, was sacked just 5 months into the job. Their first major decision was to keep Erik Ten Hag before last season and that proved to be a disaster.

The new footballing hierarchy with one already gone

Although youth recruitment has improved under Vivell and signings like Leny Yoro showed us what INEOS can do, outside all this it's still a big mess at United. And it's not going to easy to clean. Pre-season has started and United have completed only two signings if Cunha and Mbeumo and have not sold a single player. This is after their worst season in more than 50 years and when other rivals such as Liverpool and Arsenal have been really ambitious in the window. 

Manchester United's struggle in the transfer market is not just a result of a few poor decisions but it's a failure rooted in a decade of mismanagement, short term thinking and a focus on commercial value over the footballing side. From Woodward's era of going for glamour signings to false hope under Murtough and Arnold and now the uncertainly of INEOS, the club is failing to build a identity on and off the pitch. Unless the footballing side of the club operates with clarity and accountability at each level, gap between United and the top clubs will only widen. The fans demand better and a club of this stature deserves better.

By Parth Gokhale