Manchester United have to be ruthless to give Ruben Amorim what they gave Erik ten Hag

More than £600m spent, 15 permanent signings, four loans and eight players signed for over £47m. Those were the final figures of three years of spending under Erik ten Hag, a shopping spree that has delivered a few hits but many more misses.

Ten Hag could make plenty of arguments about why and how he was let down during his tenure in charge at Old Trafford, but a lack of financial support will never be one of them. He was backed in a way no United manager has ever been backed before.

But the sum of that spending is a team that is unlikely to finish in the top half of the Premier League this season. Some of that is down to Ruben Amorim's mid-season switch to a back three, but Ten Hag delivered a team capable of winning two trophies but one going nowhere in the long term.

By the end of this transfer window, there is a chance only one of the five permanent signings made in Ten Hag's first summer of 2022 will still be at the club. That was a £203m window, but £85m man Antony and £70m signing Casemiro will both be available in 2025. Tyrell Malacia is also likely to be sold, and Christian Eriksen is set to leave on a free.

That leaves Lisandro Martinez, one of the better Ten Hag signings, as the only survivor. It is also a reminder of why United must do all they can to give Amorim similar sums to work with this summer. He has a squad ill-suited to his demands and not good enough to finish anywhere near the top five, never mind challenge for the title.

To achieve that, there will have to be sales, and some of those will be Ten Hag signings. Antony and Casemiro could raise funds, and the latter would be a substantial wage off the books.

Elsewhere, shifting Marcus Rashford will be a financial boost in real terms and under PSR