Kieran Maguire shreds Man United board in £500m transfer claim – ‘spectacular’
Man United have ‘spectacularly underperformed’ when it comes to generating money from player sales.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about why United struggle to sell players in the transfer window.
The Red Devils have sold six first-team stars this summer for a total of £22million, with Anthony Elanga’s move to Nottingham Forest bringing in the majority of that figure.
Erik ten Hag is still eager to offload more players this transfer window, with Football Insider revealing that Scott McTominay, Fred, Eric Bailly and Dean Henderson are all still up for sale.
However, United have struggled compared to their rivals when it comes to selling players on, with the club only making £10million from sales in 2022/23 while Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard all left as free agents.
Maguire believes United’s board has lacked coordination in recent years, resulting in a number of poor business decisions.
“Manchester United is seen as a destination club by many players, and also with the highest wage bill in the Premier League in 2021/22 at £384million,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“They do offer very attractive terms, so finding a club willing to offer players a competitive salary has proven to be very difficult.
“The Saudi Pro League could change that if their spending is maintained in future windows.
“There also has to be question marks over the quality of United’s recruitment.
“They have seen too many players signed on big wages and transfer fees only to leave for free.
“We have seen De Gea and Pogba leave under those circumstances, and the saga of Phil Jones had many scratching their heads.
“There has historically been a lack of coordinated thought at the top of the club, although that could change under Richard Arnold.
“United have spectacularly underperformed in terms of player sales – the fact they have generated £500m less than Chelsea in the last decade is indicative of that.“
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