A recent report from the Daily Mail claimed that Man United have told prominent agents that their transfer budget could be as low as £20m in the summer transfer window if unable to qualify for the Champions League.
This will be Erik ten Hag’s first transfer window after he takes over the club and will be pivotal to strengthening the squad for the next season.
United’s ‘excuse’ for stating the low transfer budget is citing a lack of Champions League football.
But ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the Red Devils have been forced to spend big in summer transfer windows after seasons in which they failed to qualify for the Champions League.
The Red Devils have failed to qualify for the elite European league in three seasons (so far) since Sir Alex left. Let’s look at the transfers that happened in the summer windows after those campaigns.
2014 summer transfer window
United failed to qualify for the 2014/15 Champions League after failing to get a top-4 finish in the season after Sir Alex retired. After barely investing in the team in the 2013/14 season, the hierarchy decided to splash the cash in the 2014 summer window – despite no Champions League football in the 2014/15 season.
The Red Devils spent the biggest amount on signing Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid for a club-record £67.5m.
They also spent over £30m each on Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, as well as signing the likes of Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, and Radamal Falcao (on loan). They ended the window having spent over £170m, more than 5 times what they spent in the summer of 2013.
2016 summer transfer window
In what was Louis van Gaal’s final season as manager, United failed to secure a top-4 finish in the 2015/16 Premier League table. This meant they would again be without Champions League football for the corresponding season.
Jose Mourinho was brought in as Van Gaal’s replacement and rewarded with some lavish signings. United broke the British transfer record (at that time) to make the blockbuster signing of Paul Pogba for over £90m from Juventus.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived as a free agent. They also signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly for over £30m, taking their transfer spend for the 2016 summer window to over £160m.
2019 summer transfer window
The most recent season in which United had no Champions League football was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first full season in charge, that was the 2019/20 season.
Ole wanted to improve the British core at United and demanded signings according to it.
United’s hierarchy accepted it, signing Harry Maguire for £80m – which to this day has been a baffling deal. They also paid £50m for Aaron Wan-Bissaka and £16m for Dan James – taking the summer transfer spend to almost £150m.
As it can be seen from these examples, United have a tendency to spend big in the first transfer summer window for their new managers.
So even if unable to qualify for the Champions League next season next, the Red Devils should spend at least over £100m to help Ten Hag get the signings he wants.
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