Garnacho is on his way out of United
Garnacho is on his way out of United
Manchester United spent millions in the transfer market under Erik ten Hag and it's not an unfair assessment to say most of it was wasted.
Very few of the Dutchman's signings during his time at the club have improved United, with the signings of Antony and Rasmus Hojlund surely set to go down as two of the worst in Premier League history given the enormous fees involved.
Ten Hag was given freedom to splash the cash in the market and that meant a whole host of outgoings would be necessary. But one exit really irked the former boss.
"I’m very happy for Scott (McTominay). As I said, when he left, I didn’t want this but that’s the rules the club had to deal with. The rules are, I would even say, bad, but that’s the situation created. It forced us to make this decision," Ten Hag said last season.
The £25m United sold McTominay to Napoli for was a solid fee given it went down as pure profit under the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules. United were in the market for a combative midfielder, with Manuel Ugarte arriving in an initial £42.3m deal, and so room had to be made in the squad, meaning McTominay was shipped out.
McTominay enjoyed a great first campaign in Naples, scoring 13 goals in all competitions as Napoli were crowned Serie A champions. That being said, his 13-goal haul wasn't too dissimilar to the 10 he managed in his final season at United, and so it would be wrong to suggest he's suddenly turned into a different player away from United.
Serie A has become something of a dumping ground for Premier League players in recent years, and it's something United should be looking to take advantage of in the coming months.
Napoli tabled a bid for Alejandro Garnacho in January and there's a chance they could enter discussions over the player again this summer. Jadon Sancho is also rumoured to be on the Serie A champions' wishlist, with Juventus another potential destination for Sancho.
Ten Hag might not have approved of United's sale of McTominay to Napoli last summer, but when they need to raise funds via sales to buy the players they need for Ruben Amorim's system, doing business with Serie A teams would help them get to where they want to be.
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