Manchester United has been the greatest spender in football over the past ten years, but you wouldn’t know it from the paucity of awards won.

The CIES Observatory reports that since 2014, the Red Devils have spent £1.19 billion on transfers, which has put them at the top of the list of teams with the highest net spending.

But despite spending so much money, United hasn’t been able to secure a Premier League or Champions League championship during that time.

Furthermore, it appears that Jadon Sancho—who had a public falling out with Erik ten Hag—may be the next big-money failure at Old Trafford as he appears to be leaving the team in January. 

Thus, Mail Sport examines United’s dismal transfer policy during the past ten years. 

First and foremost, it is only fitting to discuss the simmering rivalry between Sancho and Ten Hag, which has the potential to ruin the Red Devils’ entire season. 

The United manager is currently standing his ground against Sancho, who has been kicked out of the first team since basically calling Ten Hag a liar after he was benched from the team’s loss to Arsenal last month because of a bad attitude during practise.

Apart from his supposedly ineffective training sessions and consistent tardiness, Mail Sport has discovered that Ten Hag has cited Sancho’s impact on teammates as a reason for worry. However, Sancho’s associates vehemently refute this.

Sancho, a former winger for Borussia Dortmund, hasn’t exactly had the expected impact on United; since coming for £73 million in 2021, he has only scored nine Premier League goals.

However, in his last season in the Bundesliga, the winger recorded eight goals and eleven assists in the league; he has not been able to duplicate such stats at United. 

Sancho’s salary are £3,000,000 per week, and United is willing to subsidize it if they can agree to a loan move for the remainder of the season in order to get rid of him in January. 

Sancho has been linked to both Juventus and his old team, Borussia Dortmund, but neither will be willing to pay United’s £60 million asking price for a player who, by then, is unlikely to have featured for more than four months.

Sancho’s transfer worth will drop more from the £73 million that United paid for him two years ago during a protracted layoff, and the team is concerned that it won’t rise unless he makes an impact while playing on loan somewhere else. 

Just four players have really left Old Trafford for a profit in the last ten years, so he’s not the only new player that has struggled to make an impact. 

The only players who have sold for more money than they were originally purchased are Chris Smalling, Dan James, Daley Blind, and Javier Hernandez, which speaks much about United’s bad business practices over the last ten years.

United isn’t even close to being the top spenders overall, according to the CIES analysis, even though they have the most net spend.

United has spent £1.67 billion on new players during the past ten years, yet they have only recovered roughly £480 million from those players.

Chelsea, on the other side, has made player sales of £1.37 billion while spending nearly £2.25 billion on players since 2014. notably distinct from United’s efforts.  

Seven of the ten most expensive signings in United’s history—including Mason Mount and Casemiro—remain in the team today.

Three players on the list, Paul Pogba, Angel di Maria, and Romelu Lukaku, have left the team, though.

Pogba’s transfer may be the best example of the disorganized nature of the transfer actions, even though none of them will be seen as wise decisions by United.

After passing through United’s system, the France international signed a free transfer to Juventus in Italy in 2012 after being unable to reach an agreement on a new contract.

Following four successful seasons in Turin, United made the bold decision to spend big in order to entice the midfield player back to Old Trafford, ultimately agreeing to an £89.3 million deal.

Pogba was supposed to be the driving force behind United’s recent success, but he fell short of the hype and only won one FA Cup and one Europa League before leaving the team.

To exacerbate the situation, Pogba was once again given free reign by United once his contract expired. That’s £90m paid for and £0 (twice) received.

Pogba’s transfer deal is still United’s record, although the Red Devils broke the mark for the most expensive defender in the world in 2019 when they signed Harry Maguire. 

The former Leicester City defender cost £80 million from United, more than Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk in 2017.

Unlike the Dutchman, though, Maguire has had difficulty at United and has frequently faced criticism for his defense-minded efforts. 

When Bruno Fernandes replaced Maguire as captain during the summer, manager Ten Hag’s lack of faith in Maguire was made clear. 

Mail Sport reported in August that was on the verge of completing a £30 million transfer to West Ham, resulting in a massive £50 million loss for the Red Devils. 

There are still more. If you analyze United’s bad transfer policy over the past ten years, Pogba and Maguire are simply the tip of the iceberg. 

Di Maria left Real Madrid for United for a then-record British record sum of £59.7 million. A year later, he completed a £44 million transfer to PSG.

In a similar vein, Memphis Depay paid £25 million to join the team in 2015 before departing in 2017 to sign a £21.6 million contract with Lyon. 

Romelu Lukaku’s £73 million move to Inter Milan in 2019 may have seemed reasonable considering that Inter paid £75 million to sign him away from Everton, but after just two years in Italy, Inter was able to close a £98 million deal to sell Lukaku to Chelsea.

It acts as a microcosm of United’s difficulties in recovering reasonable player payments, in spite of the high asking prices they have already paid. 

Fans of United will also be more concerned that history may soon repeat itself because seven of their most costly signings to date are still with the team. 

Along with the previously mentioned Sancho, Brazilian winger Antony is another important possibility who may be considered a big-money “flop.”

August 2022 saw the 23-year-old make an £85.5 million move from Ajax, but the winger hasn’t performed up to expectations. 

To make matters worse, some of Antony’s former partners have accused him of domestic abuse, leading the club to shun him until recently. 

He returned to training at the end of September after a four-week break, just in time to see his teammates play Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag will undoubtedly be hoping that the Brazilian can reintegrate and that United won’t miss out on millions of dollars again.