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This Sunday, Burnley play West Ham at Turf Moor on the opening weekend of the Championship season and every home supporter who enters the ground with a spring in their step deserves an official state honour.

It is now 10 months since Turf Moor hosted a league win. You would say a lot has happened since, but it has mainly been different types of sorry defeats.

We know the Burnley dance by now: down, up, down, up, down.

Five seasons of flux and churn, buying half a new squad to compete in the Premier League and then selling half the old squad when that mission fails.

Last season was the most desolate by a distance. The Clarets were rotten from August to May. The misery seeped into the walls of the place and has left water damage.

“It’s something I didn’t like and it left a sour taste in my mouth,” Kyle Walker says about Burnley’s relegation.

“It’s something that I want to put right, not just for myself but for the fans who had to deal with last season and for the players who have stuck around.

“I think we have an obligation to put it right. It’s not just a responsibility – it’s our job. Things aren’t always going to go as planned.

“This season might not go as planned. It might not be as plain sailing and we all want it to be.

“But I feel with the quality, that’s what we should be doing: getting promoted and going back to the Premier League.”

Walker’s bullishness is unsurprising, but this has been an odd summer in Burnley.

The spine of last season’s starting XI – Maxime Esteve, Loum Tchaouna, Martin Dubravka, Lesley Ugochukwu, Florentino Luis, Jaidon Anthony – has left, but Burnley have signed only one first-team player.

The biggest saga of their summer surrounded the pursuit of Craig Bellamy, whose appointment was lined up before issues with personal terms surrounding the recruitment of other members of his Wales coaching staff.

Instead Burnley turned to Nicky Hayen, whose only experience outside of Belgian football was as manager of Haverfordwest County in the Cymru Premier in 2021-22.

After Burnley beat Notts County on penalties in the Carabao Cup first round last weekend, Hayen explained that it may take a couple of months for things to click.

A throwaway line, most likely, but one that comes laced with danger.

West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers are strong relegated sides – Middlesbrough and Southampton should be expected to compete at the top, too.

The problem with bouncing is that the resting place is only ever at the bottom.

The problem with Burnley’s bounce specifically? They really need to get promoted.

Supporters may have grown thoroughly sick of repeated Premier League beatings, but the money sure is better in the thinner air. And Burnley could do with the money.

This club was changed irrevocably in December 2020, when ALK Capital – led by Alan Pace – took 84 per cent of the shares. It was a debt-leveraged takeover, which meant that it was financed with borrowing secured against Burnley and its assets.

Burnley owed a lot of money overnight, were responsible for servicing the debt and that debt had interest. Think the Glazers and Manchester United. Think the thing that Premier League clubs voted to ban in 2023.

Burnley’s initial debt – and they had been entirely free of external debt before that – was £65m.

According to the latest accounts (that only cover up to the end of the 2024-25 season), that debt figure has grown to £142m.

As the excellent Swiss Ramble wrote, Burnley now have the fourth highest external debt figure in English football, behind Everton (shiny new stadium), Tottenham Hotspur (shiny new stadium) and Manchester United (again: Glazers).

External debt is manageable while the club is generating healthy revenue and achieving on the pitch – clearly the two go hand in hand.

But those same accounts revealed an annual operating loss of £75m, which was the worst in Burnley’s history by a distance.

Admittedly it covered a Championship season, when revenues are reduced, but then Burnley are back here again. It was the highest operating loss in the division.

And what do Burnley have to show for this growing external debt, and for these operating losses?

They were a top-half Premier League team the season before the takeover. Everything since has been an expensive struggle to achieve diminishing returns.

There are reasons to be less pessimistic, of course. Burnley have parachute payments, which give Championship clubs a significant competitive advantage.

They were also awarded £35m by an independent Premier League commission as compensation for losses suffered as a result of Everton breaking financial rules, which was a lovely bonus.

Perhaps the Burnley bounce still lives on and can be funded by the misfortune of others, just another fuzzy football take.

But as a neutral observer, you have to squint to see the causes for optimism here.

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One of the most important seasons in Burnley’s history begins this weekend.

Fail to hit the ground running and the mood will turn toxic, not against players or the new manager (although they may be caught in the crossfire) but the architects of this era.

“I don’t think you have ever seen anyone like me,” Pace said when he took over at Turf Moor in 2020.

He was absolutely right – they hadn’t. Their football club has changed for ever. Fail to go up this season and they might really begin to see the results.

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Everton are pushing to finally sign a right-back in the next seven to 10 days as an intriguing summer recruitment drive builds to a crescendo.

On the one hand the Toffees have done smart work in the close season, striking an early and exciting deal for Hayden Hackney, who insiders believe has the potential to be part of the England conversation if he plots the trajectory they expect him to.

Christian Norgaard is a good replacement for Idrissa Gueye and at a decent price and wage level that allows the club to retain significant spending power under the Premier League’s squad cost ratio (SCR) rules.

It also feels like Everton have got the better end of the straight swap deal with Crystal Palace which will see Brennan Johnson and Dwight McNeil – who both underwent medicals at their new clubs on Monday – trade places.

But sources admit there remain gaps in the squad they hope will challenge for European football next season, and that means a busy end to a transfer window that could go “down to the wire”.

Right-back targets

The club hope that description will not apply to their move for a right-back, which is the most pressing of their priorities.

Everton have got a sizeable budget to address it but finding the right man at the right price that everyone agrees has – not for the first time – proved a frustrating problem.

Celtic’s Alistair Johnston emerged as a priority last week but hit a stumbling block over a difference in valuation of around £5m.

It is not totally dead but the club have had to keep other plates spinning in their bid to solve a long-standing problem.

West Ham’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka is another option. However, that move is considered a non-starter at the moment due to his wage demands being considered too high.

Genoa’s Brooke Norton-Cuffy has fans within the transfer committee though there is not universal support for a move, so Everton appear ready to press the button on other targets yet to emerge publicly.

The i Paper understands there is hope a defender can be added before the season opener against Palace on 22 August.

If they do manage to bring in a right-back, there is a feeling inside the club that they would be in decent shape heading into the new campaign.

There is certainly a better balance to the squad with Tyler Dibling starting to show signs of what he is capable of and Merlin Rohl emerging as one of the breakout stars of pre-season.

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Add into the mix the likely signing of Jack Grealish – that will be left until the last week of the transfer window as Everton look to extract maximum value from Manchester City over a probable second loan spell – and there is some reason for optimism at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Other moves would likely be more a case of jumping on market opportunities.

Another forward and a winger are possible, but only if something presents itself or one of Iliman Ndiaye’s suitors coughs up the £70m asking price for the mercurial winger.

It is understood that mooted interest in Bournemouth’s Marcus Tavernier will not come to anything.

The Cherries renewed his contract last season and have opted to follow a policy of not selling any of their established players this summer, with the 27-year-old part of a group considered untouchable on the South Coast.

Moyes tensions

All of these efforts are playing out against the backdrop of an intriguing managerial picture, with David Moyes entering the final year of his contract and in the conversation for the Scotland national team job.

There have been tensions over targets but there was never any chance of him leaving at the end of last season.

A longer-term stay may require Moyes and the new arrivals to hit the ground running.

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And so it begins. Before a ball has been kicked on the training ground, Marcus Rashford is back on the front pages.

And for what? What salacious scandal has the footballing target of the tabloids’ ire become embroiled in now? Well, having the nerve to be on holiday days before he was due back to work at Manchester United.

Photographs of Rashford full of joie de vivre on the French Riviera being deemed that newsworthy provided his family with a reminder of what is to come if a move to another top European side does not materialise in the coming weeks.

A year of blissful Catalonian anonymity is no more. Behind closed doors, the overriding feeling at Old Trafford was that Rashford was finished, as a United player and perhaps an elite-level forward, as he headed out on various loans over the past few years. Football has a funny way of bringing people back together and providing the most unlikely of second chances.

United supporters are torn, but if Rashford builds on a career-saving season at Barcelona to fire the club back up the table again – which he is more than capable of doing – then we have the most heartwarming tale on our hands.

And before he has had an opportunity to alienate his former fervent following for a second time, Rashford deserves some space, without being unfairly vilified by those who should have learned lessons from the last time they hounded him out of the country.

The 28-year-old linked up with teammates in Dublin this week and will begin pre-season training alongside Kobbie Mainoo, also granted extended leave after England’s World Cup endeavours, away from the media’s glare.

He is almost certainly not going to feature against Leeds United in Wednesday’s friendly, but the scrutiny will quickly intensify, as next up at the weekend is a reunion with the coach who began the ostracisation process two years ago – now AC Milan manager Ruben Amorim.

Beyond that is anyone’s guess. The i Paper understands that the plan is for Rashford to return to the United setup like he never left, ahead of a challenging season that will see a stretched squad return to the Champions League.

Several sources have indicated that the saga may not be over yet. While those closest to Rashford insist he holds no aspirations to play for another Premier League club, there are understood to be at least four teams interested.

Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have been the most active in their pursuit, but one source suggested Arsenal and Chelsea could make a late swoop to bolster their strikeforces.

The issue remains that all of his potential suitors are only likely to sanction a loan move, which is not what United want to entertain.

Co-owner Ineos is keen to get Rashford’s wages – £325,000-a-week, making him United’s top earner – off the books, but not temporarily, again.

Fenerbahce and Saudi Arabian clubs are prepared to make an offer, but the Rashfords have been clear that is a non-starter.

It is also understood that United are unlikely to sanction a move to a direct rival, given how it could come back to haunt them. Nobody is doubting Rashford retains the ability to score plenty of goals.

If Real Madrid or Bayern Munich return with a late loan offer where a fee is attached, it would give everyone something to think about. In this season where the Prime Video cameras are always watching, do United need the drama Rashford’s unfair media attention brings? Does the player want to risk being booed by his own again?

As it stands, nobody has a choice in the matter. United would need to replace Rashford if he goes, and do not appear close to even identifying a feasible alternative.

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That leaves only one scenario left to play out. While he has made mistakes – what young millionaire footballer hasn’t – Rashford has never done anything to be written off before he has had a chance to let his magic feet do the talking.

He has previous. And those more loyal United supporters, ready to rally round one of their own again, have not forgotten.

Give the happy ending a chance, for everyone’s sake.

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I firmly believe that the English football pyramid is this country’s greatest cultural asset. It is fragile, threatened and taken too easily for granted. As such, we should rail against things that increase the risk of it crumbling and shout from the rooftops about everything worth cherishing.

Two years ago I embarked upon Doing the 92, a project during which I visited, watched a game at and wrote a detailed feature on every club in the Football League. It was genuinely one of the things of which I am most proud in my life. When you’re hopefully old and grey and reminiscing about your 80-odd years on this earth, certain memories stand tallest. Doing The 92 will be one of mine.

The greatest element of that project was the sense that football supporters were following the journey (and I was lucky enough to speak to lots of them along the way) and, in the case of many League One and League Two clubs, thankful for the in-depth coverage that did more than scratch the surface.

The Journeyman

So this season, we’re combining the fan involvement and the odyssey nature with The Journeyman. At least once a week across the season (I may have a holiday in October – sue me), I will ask you, the readers, to vote in a poll that decides where I head next.

There will be a WhatsApp group that you can join, both to vote and to get updates on my progress. You know the sort of thing: pictures of grounds, little videos, me broken after a five-hour drive home.

Normally I like to have a firm idea of my season schedule mapped out in a cripplingly detailed spreadsheet. This season, you will choose my path and I will respect democracy.

How it works

There are no boundaries. I will offer up Premier League, EFL, non-league, Scottish and wider European matches during the course of the season. There will be some “experience” features, some crisis reporting (this is English football after all), some road trips and some championing of good clubs getting things right. The only rule is that the club that receives the most votes gets picked.

So for the start of the EFL season this weekend, we might offer you:

• Leicester City in the cold, hard reality
• Sheffield Wednesday, finally normal
• The new age of Bristol City
• Hearts and the difficult second season

What you need to do

Obviously I want you to subscribe to my work. You get everything I do, everything that our sports team does and everything else the entire paper does and I think it’s great value for money.

I know that paying for journalism is a hard sell for some, but doing stuff on the ground, properly, costs money. I’m never going to phone it in or do half a job because a) it’s not really my style and b) going to football clubs is a joy. I’d like to think that it is football writing you can trust.

Other than that, please engage and vote! Think about what you would like to read, which story you think merits coverage (the losing choices may well come back around, but also might not) and the one that makes for the best story. I’m only giving you options that I think I can nail.

What I’ll produce

In return, I’ll visit the club and write a feature over the course of the next week. I hope you know this by now, but that piece will be researched and involve interviews where appropriate, either with club employees themselves or leading fan voices.

In addition, this season I’m producing short match vlog videos on Instagram. These will be silly, fun and should not be taken too seriously. But I hope that you like those too. The aim is to detail the general experience of covering 80-100 matches in a season.

I’m hugely excited. As I’ve told multiple people at work over the last fortnight, for some reason I got home from the World Cup and was immediately more pumped for a domestic season than I can ever remember.

There’s something about knowing where you’re going next that is comforting. There’s something about having no clue where you’ll be next week that is liberating. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

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The re-emergence of Amanda Staveley as a potential revolutionary at West Ham United was a reminder of a fan banner spotted at St James’ Park during the post-Mike Ashley euphoria which swept Newcastle United almost five years ago: “Until Amanda I was never happy.”

But West Ham fans may need to wait a while before the joy returns – as Staveley, the friendly face of the global corporatism which is now embedded within the day-to-day life of Britain’s leading football clubs, is front and centre of a new twist in the Hammers’ tale.

Adapting to the Championship this season, the club’s attempts for a fuss-free, brief stay in the second tier is overshadowed by boardroom chicanery. It should spell and end to the perceived managed decline largely overseen by David Sullivan and the now departed Karren Brady.

But shareholder Daniel Kretinsky’s own interests – and a recent move he has made – mean a battle is brewing. And the impasse is hampering the Hammers’ plans for a swift return to the Premier League.

The obstacles in Staveley’s way

As it stands, PCP, Staveley’s company, needs to draft in wealthier partners, with Staveley’s personal holding estimated at around £150m, and that is dwarfed by key West Ham shareholder Kretinsky – who is opposed to this fresh power play.

Kretinsky’s input appears crucial. Vanessa Gold may have agreed to sell her 25.1 per cent stake to PCP, but after Sullivan resigned as chairman in the wake of ongoing sexual misconduct allegations, and vice-chair Brady departed in April, Kretinsky is increasingly central to the developments.

He will therefore have a say on whether or not Staveley is firstly, successful with the bid, and secondly, the material impact she and her investors can make.

That Sullivan remains the Hammers’ largest shareholder is another significant roadblock.

However, Staveley’s scent of an opportunity, essentially to re-establish a labouring “brand” – for West Ham in 2026, see Newcastle previously – is widely admired.

The move that could thwart Staveley’s bid

Club co-chair Kretinsky is a multi-billionaire. Under West Ham’s option of pre-emption rights, he has utilised the right of first refusal for existing shareholders.

The Czech has just sold 2 per cent of his stake in the club to compatriot Jakub Havrlant in a move which could already thwart Staveley’s bid. By keeping his shareholding to below the 50 per cent threshold, Kretinsky retains power without being obliged to make an offer for the remainder of the club.

Therefore, even with the successful acquisition of Gold’s 25 per cent shareholding, Staveley’s ambitions are limited. Of course, a key further step here is persuading Sullivan – who holds 38.8 per cent of club shares – to sell up, a pursuit which is proving extremely taxing.

At present, Staveley can suggest how PCP and Ashfield can help “flip” the club for long-term sustainability. Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, is open to talks over the future of the London Stadium, which can be a substantial driver for financial growth if West Ham pave the way for outright ownership.

Opportunities to develop the swathes of land around the arena exist in Stratford – virtually a city-within-a-city – but Staveley may also have to account for opposition to any major changes from environmental groups, keen to preserve the 2012 Olympic legacy of planting diverse wildlife habitats and the creation of a vast urban park.

Any such obstacles, if overcome, can help reimagine the stadium itself, long criticised for its lack of intense atmosphere.

That alone would be a massive initial hit for West Ham’s supporters and an excellent public sweetener for Staveley. Her proven communication skills and easy grace from her spell at Newcastle would please fans, so often frustrated at the lack of pizazz by Sullivan and Kretinsky.

No Saudi link boosts Staveley

Furthermore, the absence of a Saudi link to Staveley’s proposed involvement also minimises any negative publicity over human rights issues which stalked her early months at Newcastle.

Amid the uncertainty, the Hammers’ player trading has been affected. Players such as Crysencio Summerville, Mateus Fernandes and Freddie Potts have left for a combined £150m, and just one player, Venezuelan winger Keiber Lamadrid, has arrived.

While Celtic midfielder Arne Engels is strongly linked for a £25m switch to east London, recruitment remains slow, with West Ham kicking off their Championship campaign on 16 August.

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If Staveley’s executive move is successful, she will have presumably learned from negative aspects of her experience on Tyneside.

A main one being the enforced sale of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35m to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules. Two years later, the England international has been sold by Forest to Manchester City for £116m.

That aside, Newcastle fans, broadly speaking, lauded Staveley for her vision, something which they claim the club lacks since her departure in July 2024. Staveley’s ability to see a grander canvas around West Ham may excite supporters desperate for uplifting news, but there is still much for her to overcome.

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LA MANGA — On the sun-kissed Spanish coast this week, there has been optimism as Newcastle’s key power brokers meet to talk turkey.

PIF’s Jacobo Solis and Newcastle minority owner Jamie Reuben were notable presences in La Manga for an “off-site” on Wednesday that has set the direction of travel for the last three weeks of the summer transfer window. How is it going to be? “Busy” said one senior source.

It needs to be. For all the upbeat words and “energy”, there is a lot riding on it. CEO David Hopkinson told reporters here the club is in a “moment of change” and should not shy away from admitting it. Matthias Jaissle has injected fresh energy and intensity but he needs more in the market.

A fresh push in their recruitment drive is now imminent and the budget they can work with is considerable. The i Paper reported that they could spend £150m after the Bruno Guimaraes sale and that number has been backed up out here in Spain.

Transfer fees will “not be a problem” in the markets they’re shopping in but wages are the key. Under tough squad cost ratio rules have to keep that (relatively) low to continue investing while hitting their agreed Uefa financial restrictions. It will also give them room to negotiate further contract extensions – with Lewis Hall eyeing new terms and a longer stay.

Newcastle’s transfer plans

Instead of one blockbuster deal, the budget will be divided up on “at least” three signings. They are actively working on a midfielder – the current policy is to have several “plates” spinning at the same time but with “experienced” options lined up – and a full-back.

The name is yet to emerge. Those linked but discounted include Felix Nmecha and Ruben Neves, who played for the new Newcastle boss at Al-Hilal. They like Porto’s Victor Froholdt but it’s not a deal they believe can happen this summer. Ditto Germany international Angelo Stiller.

Croatia midfielder Luka Sucic, who worked with Jaissle previously and plays for Real Sociedad, is an intriguing option. Newcastle wanted to end their overreliance on one player, so having a few capable of “ball progression” and allowing Lewis Miley a more attacking role is the plan.

Other positions will depend on Jaissle’s assessment of his squad. He has pored over the physical statistics from last season and is understood to be enthused that the players are fit enough to play in his favoured “high-intensity” style. It could be another full-back or a forward – the squad looks shy of goals, even if Yoane Wissa and Will Osula look sharp.

What happens next

There is no secret that they will run things right until deadline day on 1 September.

“We’re active in the market,” Wilson confirmed here in Spain.

“We’ve already strengthened the squad, we wanted to have a clear stamp on the window as to what our identity looked like, we wanted to re-energise and refresh it and we can feel it now in a big way.

“The new coach can feel it in a different way because he didn’t work with the players we had before. Of course we want to add more. The support of the guys is there as well.

“Matthias wants to assess what we have as well, which is obvious, he’s been doing that for some time now so he’s got a view on that already and we’re aligned on what we want to do. What we also don’t want to do is make any mistakes by jumping to do something that we don’t really want to do to tick a box.”

No more big sales

Newcastle insiders have rowed back the idea that they are not willing sellers in the transfer market. “Tell that to the clubs that try to deal with us,” was the verdict of one source.

While Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali were always leaving, Guimaraes was told – after Newcastle reluctantly granted his wish to leave – that he could do so on two conditions. The first is that there would be no repeat of the Alexander Isak wildcat strike – he had to report for training while the deal was being thrashed out.

The second is that the numbers had to work. If they didn’t, Guimaraes would stay. Both parties shook on that.

That should inform the idea that Hall, Joelinton or Tino Livramento might leave. Hall is “untouchable” and will stay. Joelinton is also going nowhere despite links with the Saudi Pro League – “Perfectly happy” said one source – and Livramento is working his way back towards fitness.

Bruno deal explained

The sale of Guimaraes – which will be confirmed shortly – means most of the pain is over. And it has been a blow for the club that he actively petitioned for a move to Arsenal all summer.

“We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno,” Wilson admitted.

“None of us wanted to sell Bruno. He’s our captain, he was very, very important to us and the debate over his price – it’s a world record fee for a player of his age. What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on.

“That doesn’t mean he can go but it certainly plays a part in what our thinking is when we hit a certain range of number. But there’s no part in saying it was part of our strategy and was in our thinking this summer – it wasn’t.

“But we have got to be flexible and react to things that happen. It might have been in our plan to sign one player but we didn’t get him so we move on to another. We can only be honest about that.

“We’d love Bruno Guimares to be in our squad this summer but I’m sure there are other clubs that have lost players that wish they were in their squads this season. It’s the world we live in, we had to adapt, we had to react.”

Was £75ma good fee? Newcastle fans were upset that the club shook hands on that and there was an admission here that they had wanted more.

“It was not the fee that I think Arsenal had hoped to pay and of course we would have liked an even higher number,” CEO Hopkinson admitted.

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“But I think you’re dealing with sophisticated actors on both sides and that’s what negotiation looks like. It’s a fee that satisfies us. If you want a put a merchandising spin on it, it’s the highest fee for a player in that position at that age.

“Is that a good deal for Newcastle United? I believe it is. But Arsenal are getting a very special player and special person so this works from a financial perspective for both sides.”

Newcastle insist they have learned lessons from the Alexander Isak saga last summer. Giving themselves three weeks rather than three days to source their captain’s replacement at least gives them a chance.

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This was supposed to be the summer transfer window Manchester United supporters had been demanding for a long time.

Money has been spent in recent years, over £200m splurged on a new forward line last summer – but one area of the team has always been neglected in each window.

Something has been missing in central midfield for a long time, perhaps ever since now-manager Michael Carrick hung up his boots. Supporters were assured that numbers and quality would finally be added to the engine room.

The numbers have come in – two central midfielders already – but the big-name, top targets have moved elsewhere. Even Tottenham are leaving United trailing in their wake. No other areas of the squad have been strengthened, other than a reserve goalkeeper.

So far, the net spend measures around £25m. Manchester City spent four times that on United’s top pick, Elliot Anderson.

Do United have the money?

United, even with all the debt hanging over their heads, remain one of the most profitable clubs in world football.

With financial rules switching from Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) to Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) this season, United are in an even stronger fiscal position, as the new statutes focus on revenue generated, rather than overall losses made.

“The cash reserves are fine,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire tells The i Paper. “Being back in the Champions League, that’s worth another £50m minimum, probably closer to £100m by the time you factor in four home games as a bare minimum, realistically six.

“They make a lot of money from ticket sales, they pick up a lot of prize money from Uefa, they’ll have bonuses which will kick in from sponsors, because it’s Champions League or nothing as far as your sponsors are concerned.

“So I do think their lack of activity is odd. They’ve got the capacity to spend.”

Self-imposed spending limits

A cautious approach so far to the transfer market isn’t down to a lack of funds. It is how much is made available.

Insiders have been keen to reiterate that “funds are limited”, which is why United executives feel that a deal for Newcastle full-back Lewis Hall will be difficult to agree. The true meaning of that stance is that the club have imposed their own limits on what they are willing to spend on individual targets. Ineos feel United have been overpaying for too long.

United would have been interested in Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali had they been available for £70m; instead they joined Spurs. Ineos wanted Anderson, but as soon as the fee went above £100m, United dropped out of the running.

Now is not the time to take such huge gambles – four of their five record captures are Paul Pogba, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Romelu Lukaku, who all struggled to live up to their price tags.

Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans are both sensible picks, with Premier League experience – something United’s new transfer hierarchy saw as crucial for any new recruit this term.

Next summer may be the opportunity to take more risks. For now, if the right targets are not available at the right price, then United will wait.

Cost-cutting

Whether it is what supporters want from their owner is another matter, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made his name by turning around failing businesses. A big part of his manifesto when taking over any ailing enterprise is cost-cutting.

The playing staff have not been spared from his culling of United employees. Big earners Casemiro and Jadon Sancho have been let go this summer, while Andre Onana’s wages remain someone else’s concern this season.

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Yet, in Ineos’ eyes, the outlay on wages still needs some work. Getting over £1m a week off the payroll is impressive, but a return to the Champions League has given many players a 25 per cent wage increase as a bonus. Even Mason Mount, who barely kicked a ball last season, and Marcus Rashford and Onana, who were both out on loan last season.

These deals were negotiated before Ineos’ arrival, but they still have to foot the bill. In any good business, you cannot increase expenditure too much until costs are kept under better control.

“United have been offering premium wages to all levels of player for too long,” one source close to the club says.

“It takes a long time to get out of that cycle. Other clubs have bigger top earners, but United constantly offer £80,000-£100,000-a-week more than they should.”

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