Ineos' Manchester United transfer strategy could put at risk club's incredible 'unrivalled record'

If Manchester United reach the Europa League final in May then the final game of this season will be number 4,300 with an academy graduate in their matchday squad, a record dating back to 1937 and one the club are rightly incredibly proud of.

But for how much longer can that record go on? It could finish on a round number this summer, and from next season the number of players available to Ruben Amorim to keep extending it could shrink. Despite larger squad sizes, it could get harder to maintain it.

Those nine-man substitute benches shouldn't be used to fill one spot with an academy graduate just making up the numbers. That isn't what this record is about. It's about players who have come through the system ready to make an impact at Manchester United, as academy director Nick Cox explained when the record reached 4,000 games in 2019.

“The beauty of the 85-year run is it has been achieved organically,” said Cox. “It hasn’t been manufactured or, indeed, something we were conscious of. It’s just the way things are done here!"

It will always be a big focus on how things are done at United, but it does feel like a tipping point might be coming, one that forces Ineos to confront the desire to right the club financially while maintaining a record that is the envy of world football. Just imagine a game passing by without an academy graduate in the squad, resetting a clock that currently stands at 88 years and 4,286 games. It will never be repeated again.

That is why it needs to be protected, but it must be protected through quality rather than hand-outs. That is where the transfer strategy under Ineos starts to become a risk.

Three players who have helped maintain that record in recent years are almost certain to depart this