Manchester United are changing their approach in the transfer window

After spending £81.3million on Antony in September 2022 and an initial £64m on Rasmus Hojlund 11 months later, Manchester United know what it's like to get stung in the transfer market.

United spent the entirety of the 2022 summer transfer window chasing Antony's tail, confident that a reunion with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford would fix their long-term right-wing problems.

Having never once stepped foot in one of Europe's top five leagues, the fee United paid Ajax to bring Antony to England was nothing short of astronomical. United had been reluctant to meet Ajax's demands for much of the summer.

Less than three years later, United have made Antony one of three players they want to sell as a priority this summer. They need to bank £32.5m for him to avoid a loss under the profit and sustainability [PSR] regulations.

Antony will go down as one of the Premier League's greatest flops. Perhaps the greatest. No club wants to be associated with that particular tag.

The addition of Antony, likewise Hojlund the following summer, is a prime example of just how reckless United have been in their spending in recent years. They have had their pants pulled down far too often, sometimes through sheer desperation to get a deal over the line.

Both Ajax and Atalanta must not have been able to believe their luck when United agreed to such big-money deals to sign two raw and unproven attackers. Chelsea, too, must have been rubbing their hands together when they pocketed an initial fee of £55m for Mason Mount with just one year remaining on his contract in July 2023.

Recruitment failings have been a massive contributor to United's decline. Too many deals have been conducted without football specialists or recruitment gurus overseeing them.

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