Manchester United might have to take transfer gamble to fix mounting problems

They say it never rains but it pours and the metaphorical water is gushing through the leak in the roof at Old Trafford at the moment. Erik ten Hag has been dealt a dreadful hand at the start of the Premier League season.

The mood is maybe mildly more upbeat than a year ago when United had lost to Brighton and Brentford in the first two weeks of the season, but it's a close-run thing. At least then Ten Hag was new to the job, he had a blank canvas on which to draw and sketched out improvements rapidly.

This time, the on-pitch issues are falling at Ten Hag's door, rather than being remnants of what came before. He can't do much about the off-field issues, but United are trying to put out fires on that front and the biggest one of all is still in the incinerator waiting to go up.

The poorly handled U-turn on Mason Greenwood and the statements that accompanied that decision have received a predictable backlash and it was a bruising few days for club executives, albeit one they really should have seen coming. At least it is over now, bar the finalising of an actual departure for the forward, which could happen in the next seven days.

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What isn't over is the takeover saga, a Mancunian soap opera that looks like it wants to rival Coronation Steet for longevity. It is preposterous that there is still no resolution, more than nine months after the 'strategic review' started. After tomorrow's game against Nottingham Forest supporters will stage a sit-in protest against the Glazers and numbers might be swelled by the negativity engulfing United right now.

It's certainly not a good time for Joel and Avram to announce they're staying, after all, but such is the