Manchester United will be forced to fight on three fronts with a strike force that has scored three fewer league goals than Chris Wood between them this season after failing to bring in a forward during the January transfer window.
With a shift away from their previous wasteful approach to the transfer market and the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules to consider, the club have insisted all along that outgoings would be needed to fund any major squad revamp.
Here’s how United’s transfer window played out and what could come next:
Why did Tel’s move collapse?
Capturing Patrick Dorgu from Lecce, at a reasonable price of £25m with add-ons, represented a major win, especially given new coach Ruben Amorim made a new left-back his top priority.
But with Marcus Rashford and Antony both loaned out, and the large majority of their substantial wages offloaded in a major boost to United’s PSR position, fans starved of goals were hopeful of bringing in some additional firepower before Monday’s deadline.
As has been the case for the past decade of decay, however, supporters were left disappointed. With two forwards out and zero brought in, United are effectively writing off another season and taking a major gamble on their misfiring frontline.
Mathys Tel was waiting by the phone for United’s call on deadline day, The i Paper was told. The 19-year-old striker had already turned Tottenham down once and was waiting for United to make a loan offer – given they had shipped Rashford off to Aston Villa, saving them at least £1m a month in wages.
But Bayern Munich’s insistence on a £5m loan fee put United off, sources said. United did not want to pay that much while “improving a competitor’s young players”.
United’s new approach to transfers
There is an admirable shift away from a short-term viewpoint under way at Old Trafford. Buying players in January is always difficult, with clubs reluctant to sell mid-season. Any winter purchases would have taken funds away from the summer budget, and when operating within tight PSR constraints, each signing has to be carefully planned out.
The new United hierarchy do deserve some recognition for trying to leave behind the bad habit of signing marquee names past their best on inflated wages.
In Dorgu, teenage defender Ayden Heaven and South American full-back Diego Leon, the club feel they have signed talented, high-potential young players for the long term without paying high fees.
What will United do this summer?
Refusal to pay over the odds has only aided their PSR position. The club can then go for their top targets that will fit the long-term strategy.
More players are likely to be sold in the summer, too, when other clubs can afford to do more business. Villa have a £40m option to sign Rashford permanently, with the likes of Casemiro likely to be able to find new homes then too.
That gives United a clear path to go and sign Amorim’s top choice. A January move for Swedish goal machine Viktor Gyokeres was considered, but Sporting were reluctant to sell mid-season. It would have taken a bid of £83m – the former Brighton and Coventry striker’s release clause – to bring him in now.
By waiting until the summer, Sporting are understood to be willing to let Gyokeres go for closer to £60m.
Why this is a big gamble
All of this would be fine, if United were not 13th in the table, with only four clubs – the bottom three and Everton – having scored fewer goals this season.
A change of approach is necessary, but failure to qualify for any European competition next season will have severe financial ramifications. Could this shift in mentality not have waited until the summer? After all, desperate times – a point United have already stepped beyond – calls for desperate measures.
Failure to bring in Tel or another striker on loan leaves United well short of goals. Amorim has so little faith in Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee as central strikers that he deployed midfielder Kobbie Mainoo there in Sunday’s defeat to Crystal Palace instead.
The new boss is going to have to be even more creative over the next few months if he wants to avoid a record-breaking season of woe. Thanks to the increasingly-unpopular Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos, he has no choice.
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