Manchester United’s chiefs have been slammed for their free spending summer after Erik ten Hag’s colossal £200m transfer wobble.
The Red Devils, under new chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe, splashed out over a whopping £180m in the first summer frenzy post-takeover.
United splashed the cash on the likes Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui – recruits believed to be under the heavy influence of Ten Hag.
READ MORE: Ruben Amorim’s ‘ego’ could be to blame for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Man Utd exit, says legend
READ MORE: Erik ten Hag spotted making snowy Manchester return as Ruben Amorim takes training
Don’t miss a thing with football updates!
Want to be on the ball with all of the latest football news? Well then sign up for the brilliant Daily Star Football email newsletter!
From the latest transfer news to breaking stories, get it all in your email inbox.
How do you sign up?
It only takes a matter of seconds.
Simply click on this link, then provide your email address and that’s it, job done. You’ll receive an email with all of the top football stories.
You can also sign up for our sport email, Off the Ball, for all the latest darts, boxing, snooker, F1 stories and more, right here
Yet the Dutch gaffer’s stint at Old Trafford was cut short last month, making way for Ruben Amorim. With the summer spree handcuffing the Portuguese mister to a ‘modest’ budget, Richard Keys took to Twitter to unleash fury on the club’s top brass.
He fumed: “Every briefing coming out of OT underlines what a cataclysmic mistake it was keeping ten Toast last summer. They let him spend another £200m+ on rubbish and now there’s nothing for Amorim.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Somebody in the brains trust should be fired. There’s nothing for Amorim to work with,” reports the Mirror.
Despite the backlash, United’s recruitment team have maintained a positive outlook. Earlier this season, it was reported that the board of chiefs, including CEO Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox, believed they had only overpaid for one signing.
It was hinted the Red Devils only met the asking price for former Lille star Leny Yoro, with the rest of their signings being recruited for less than their market value.
(Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)
Despite this, new United boss Amorim may be pushed into making difficult decisions to generate some much-needed funds. It has already been suggested that the Red Devils would be willing to cut their losses on £81m winger Antony.
January also represents their last chance to earn fees for Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Amad Diallo and Jonny Evans. The five United stars are all out of contract in the summer.
Casemiro and Tyrell Malacia only have 18 months left on their respective deals and face uncertain futures at Old Trafford.