Man Utd have paid the price for past transfer mistakes again in the summer transfer window.
There are fewer than two weeks left of the European transfer window, and Manchester United still haven't managed to sell a single player during it.
United went bold when they confirmed five players would not be required to report at Carrington for pre-season training so that they could focus on permanent exits instead. That news came on 4 July, though all five of those players are still officially contracted to the club. So much for Independence Day.
United expect to save around £14 million wages from Marcus Rashford's initial loan move for Barcelona, but any hope of them making it permanent for £26m next summer seem fanciful. Not only was Rashford their third-choice behind Nico Williams and Luis Diaz, but it would be naive to think he will be the attacker they want to sign the most at a time when there will be breakout stars from the World Cup.
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Chelsea are leaving it late to bid for Alejandro Garnacho and will look to cash in on United's desperation to sell in the dying days of the summer window. United are adamant any sale will be on attractive terms, but if the Argentine is their only hope of guaranteed transfer income this summer, they might have to fold in this tense game of poker.
United were happy to sell Jadon Sancho for £20m, but he rejected a move to Roma and does not have any plans to join Besiktas. He is holding out for other opportunities in the same window Sir Jim Ratcliffe claimed the club would pay another £17m towards his initial transfer fee from four years ago.
Real Betis are playing the waiting game as they look to either secure Antony for a bargain fee or another loan deal, while both Roma and Porto have expressed an interest in Tyrell Malacia. With so little time left in the European window, United do not have much negotiating power, though there is an added lifeline that the Saudi transfer window shuts on 10 September and the Turkish one closes on 11 September.
Even if United had remarkably sanctioned full sales for all of the 'bomb squad' this summer, there are other legacy payments that have impacted them during the window. "If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn't buy, we're buying Antony, we're buying Casemiro, we're buying Onana, we're buying Hojlund, we're buying Sancho," Ratcliffe told the BBC back in March." These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and have to sort that out.
"Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time. We've got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future."
It is slightly ironic, then, that the secret behind United's summer spending has been their ability to amortise transfer payments over several years, such as their agreement to pay Matheus Cunha's £62.5 million release clause fee over three installments. If the signings work out, they look like good business, just as United believed deals for the likes of Onana, Hojlund and Sancho would have been at the time they were made.
If they don't, then United will simply have kicked the can down the road and the next few summers will similarly be impacted by legacy transfer payments they are obliged to fulfil. Ratcliffe wanted to 'sort it out', but instead, United have used the same technique to form the foundations of their next squad rebuild.
There is still hope a few sales can be sanctioned in the time that remains but at least Ineos is now 'fully responsible' for those that have arrived this summer. Ratcliffe hopes these next transfer commitments don't feel like such a burden.
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