Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Manchester United are reluctant to break transfer records nowadays. But one could soon fall.
It is 10 years since Manchester United broke the world transfer record to sign Paul Pogba for £89 million.
Ed Woodward signed off on the deal to demonstrate United’s financial power – but the results on the pitch did not match up.
United came close to this fee by paying £82 million for Antony in 2022. It turned out to be another disappointing transfer.
Nowadays, United are reticent to get involved in paying huge fees. The world transfer record now stands at the £200 million PSG paid for Neymar.
The British transfer record has surged too, with various clubs breaking the £100 million barrier.
City did so recently by spending £116 million to land Elliot Anderson, a player who United had been linked to.
United chose not to try and outbid City, continuing to define a reluctance to step back from paying the mega-fees amid a continuously inflated market.
However, one transfer record that United may need to break is the record fee for a full-back.
England Men's Training Camp
Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
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World record full-back fee could fall
The record fee for a full-back stands at £60 million. This fee was paid by Paris Saint-Germain to sign Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan in 2021.
Manchester City also paid the same figure to land Joao Cancelo from Juventus in 2019.
It was around this point five years ago that full-back transfer fees surged. City had a big part to play in this, spending above £50 million three times on Cancelo, Mendy and Walker.
Manchester United also gut suckered in, spending £50 million to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace in 2019.
Wan-Bissaka was a solid professional, a player who won the Carabao Cup for United in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
But he was sold for just £15 million to West Ham, who have subsequently been relegated to the Championship.
Now in 2026, United have to consider whether to spend a similar fee on Newcastle’s Lewis Hall.
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The case for spending big on Lewis Hall
Manchester United may not have an option but to spend big on Lewis Hall, due to the fees Newcastle have already received this summer.
While Newcastle are at a crossroads after the exit of manager Eddie Howe, they have insisted on high fees for sales, with Anthony Gordon to Barcelona bringing in £55 million. Bruno Guimaraes will cost Arsenal £80 million.
And just last summer, Newcastle convinced Liverpool to pay £130 million for striker Alexander Isak.
Lewis Hall is considered an elite left-back prospect, a player who is only 21 and has represented England at senior level four times.
Hall has significant top level experience already, making 102 first team appearances for Newcastle.
In 2014, United spent £27 million to sign Luke Shaw from Southampton, a deal that has overall proved to be good value 12 years on, despite his injury issues.
If United could get 12 years plus out of Lewis Hall, then a fee of £60 million would seem like astute business.