Finance guru: £200m project key as Man United summer budget revealed – ‘They have the firepower’
Plans to redevelop Old Trafford may be one of the reasons Man United have been handed just a £50million transfer budget for the summer.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about developments behind the scenes at United.
The Red Devils announced last Thursday (21 April) that current Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, 52, will take over as manager from the end of the season.
And a United source told this site last Saturday (23 April) that the Dutchman will have just £50m to spend on a summer rebuild.
The news comes shortly after it was confirmed that a major redevelopment of Old Trafford is in the works.
United will add 15,000 seats to the Theatre of Dreams in a move that will cost north of £200m, as per the Daily Mail earlier this month (17 April).
And Plumley claims that the stadium project would go some way to explaining the piecemeal transfer kitty.
“Clubs have been hit by Covid but big clubs are in a position to recover,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“United aren’t a club that can’t afford to spend, so that budget will have been set internally for other reasons.
“They did spend big last summer, with Sancho, Varane, Ronaldo. It often goes under the radar that their spending is the highest in the Premier League.
“They still have that financial firepower. But they have plans to redevelop Old Trafford and you have got to factor in missing out on the Champions League.
“They need a big rebuild job. We know Ten Hag likes to work with youth but that doesn’t happen overnight.”
It is understood that Ten Hag will have total agency over who leaves the club and who comes in.
The Red Devils. currently under the charge of interim boss Ralf Rangnick, are 6th in the league with four games to go.
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