Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Manchester United are looking good in pre-season, but that’s despite a quiet window, rather than because of it.
Coming into the season, all the tall claims about a huge rebuild with ambition have gone silent.
There is still about a month left in the window, but as it stands, the signings have been underwhelming in terms of quantity, if not quality.
Champions League qualification was supposed to help Michael Carrick land players, but the opposite is happening due to another factor.
Goalline camera view of Altay Bayindir conceding goal for Manchester United
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
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Michael Carrick shot up Man Utd’s wage bill
It’s a tale as old as time. Man Utd want to sell a player, but the player’s wages are not matched anywhere else.
A compromise is found by way of a loan deal with salary coverage, and the player is back at Old Trafford to restart the transfer saga next summer.
It has already happened once this season with Marcus Rashford, but that issue has become more difficult to resolve after Carrick guided United into the UCL this season.
United run a contract policy of a 25% salary cut every season United aren’t in the Champions League.
As soon as Carrick’s United qualified for the Champions League, the wages of every senior player at the club went up by 25%.
The figures that would have already struggled to find a buyer became even higher, thereby having a domino effect on United’s ability to buy.
Since they can’t sell well, they can’t buy well, and the reason they can’t sell well is that all the underperformers have had their wages raised by 25%.
The recent example came with Altay Bayindir, who seemed like a lock to move to Turkey on a permanent deal.
Now, he’s set for a loan move to Celta in Spain, where his salary is being covered, but the option to buy is not mandatory.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Bayindir returned to United next summer, much like Rashford, Sancho, or Onana, only to get another loan.
United’s already unpalatable contracts became much harder to shift as soon as United got back into the Champions League.
Carrick can be forgiven for saying that he’s “suffering from success”!