Manchester United’s recruitment under Glazer ownership was nothing short of shambolic.
It’s difficult to argue that a “transfer strategy” was even in place at Manchester United over the past decade, with millions wasted on terrible signings.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, there can be an entire XI of United flops made, but Ineos are trying to improve the recruitment at Old Trafford since the takeover.
Last summer, Ineos were flawless with recruitment as they targeted young, upcoming players for smaller fees. This time around, United are targeting ready-made Premier League stars with Matheus Cunha confirmed and a £60m bid submitted for Bryan Mbeumo.
United haven’t often signed players from Premier League rivals in the past decade, but one player who was poached from an English club was Harry Maguire.
Harry Maguire celebrates for Manchester United vs Athletic Club.
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
Man United paid £80m up front for Harry Maguire
Ineos are using Ferguson’s transfer strategy by trying to poach the best players from around the Premier League.
Back in 2018, United thought they were doing something similar when they made a move to sign Maguire from Leicester.
Maguire’s £80m transfer fee was a world record for a defender at the time and it is still among United’s highest-ever transfer fees, only the deals for Paul Pogba and Antony rank higher.
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But journalist Laurie Whitwell, speaking on Stretford Paddock’s podcast, has revealed a shocking fact about the Maguire deal.
“It is rare that teams will pay outright for a player nowadays. United did actually do it for Harry Maguire,” Whitwell revealed.
“They had loads of cash in the bank at that point, around £300m in cash.”
Whitwell’s revelation prompted sighs from his podcast co-hosts, and it is hardly a surprise given United’s current cash struggles and financial concerns.
Man United are running out of cash
Just seven years ago, Whitwell revealed that United had over £300 million in the bank – enough to convince the Glazers that the Maguire fee could be paid up-front.
Now, Sir Jim Ratcliffe warned United were going bust in 2025 before he and his Ineos team implemented their ruthless cost-cutting methods.
Ratcliffe has personally invested his own cash to improve United’s infrastructure, including a £50m Carrington renovation which is set to be complete by the time pre-season training begins on July 7th.
Ratcliffe also revealed that United have already paid £89m in transfer instalments this summer as a result of the reckless spending in recent years.
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In order to fund this summer’s rebuild, United have spread the cost for Cunha and could do the same for Mbeumo – which is great news now, but not so much for future windows.
The cash reserves are at an alarming low which is why Ineos are under huge pressure to complete player sales. However, that is proving more difficult than they initially thought.