Stefan Borson: This is how much Man United must spend to win the Champions League
Manchester United's current financial strategy is hindering Michael Carrick's side from truly competing in the Champions League.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Red Devils' wage bill is the determining factor behind the lack of success.
In the Premier League, Man United are sitting 11th in the Premier League table, only beating Ipswich Town in their opening three fixtures.
However, in their first Champions League fixture since 2023, Carrick's side put four goals past Azerbaijan side Sabah FK on Thursday, 10 September.
The battle in Europe this season is exactly why supporters expected a lot more activity in the transfer market, but they were left disappointed.
Carlos Baleba was a very late arrival from Brighton, and before that, Youri Tielemans, Karl Darlow and Andrey Santos were the only first-team additions.
Man United to struggle to reach Champions League quarter-finals
With United refusing to overspend in the market, the club's wage bill is also extremely low, with the entire squad's wages adding up to below £200million.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson believes this is the key reason behind why Man United will be knocked out of the competition at an early stage.
"United are operating a version of football austerity. And the strategy is to try and be the smartest guys around, limit the spending, and underspend if anything," he said.
"They want to have the lowest wage bill of the big six, and that now includes Spurs, right? So United are targeting a wage bill below Spurs in terms of their budget.
"It's unlikely to work. To win the Champions League, you've probably got to have a wage bill now of £400m.
"It'll be very difficult for them to kind of get beyond the quarter-finals. It'll be difficult to come with that size of squad to compete all season. But that is the strategy."
What are Man United's chances of European success this season?
A 4-0 win over Sabah has certainly boosted the mood at Old Trafford, but a trip to Atletico Madrid next will really put the cat amongst the pigeons.
It will show supporters exactly where the team is, and while success is not impossible, it is highly unlikely with the current size and quality of the squad.
According to Opta, Man United have a 42.93 per chance of reaching the round of 16, with their chances of a quarter-final only dropping to 42.65 per cent.
Lifting the title is almost impossible, though, with Carrick's team facing a 3.93 per cent chance of winning the Champions League for the first time since 2007-08.