Manchester United financial results highlight issue they haven't fixed in 10 years

It was a summer of change at Manchester United, but one thing remained the same. Erik ten Hag was backed with a record budget of £225.4m on six new signings, such was the club's faith in him and commitment to giving him what he deemed necessary.

The Dutchman was given the authority to pursue whoever he wanted, with the club interjecting where necessary to veto certain requests. Antony, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia were all specifically endorsed by the manager over other targets and were supplemented by the recruitment department's recommendations of Casemiro and Martin Dubravka.

United's resurgent run of form in recent weeks has endorsed Ten Hag's eye as a talent spotter and given how predominantly his summer signings have featured, it could well give him even more power to pursue whoever he wants next year.

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But there is one problem: Ten Hag can't expect to ever spend as much as he did this summer, certainly not until they start to make serious progress in regards to the money they bring in from player sales.

"During the summer, we made significant investment in the first team squad with the permanent addition of five regular starters, including a balance of experienced international players and younger, emerging talent," John Murtough told investors last week.

"We also saw a higher-than-usual number of departures, and this was an equally important part of refreshing the squad after the disappointing 2021/22 season. Overall, we are ahead of schedule in our recruitment plans as envisaged at the start of the summer, and we do not anticipate the same level of activity in future windows. As always, our planning focuses on the summer window."

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