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“I like the squad, I have to say,” said Dan Ashworth. And if there was a swift admission that Manchester United’s new sporting director is scarcely an impartial observer, there was an explanation, too.
“I probably would say that after the business we’ve done in the summer,” he added. “I’ve probably done 25 windows now and have been doing this for a fair period of time. I don’t think there’s ever been a window where we’ve gone, ‘Oh God, it’s gone absolutely perfectly, we’ve done every single in, we’ve done every single out we wanted to do’. But in the main, the target positions we wanted to strengthen, the players we’ve brought in, the depth and options when everybody is fully fit, I’m pleased with that.”
Ashworth’s first window at Old Trafford has been a frantic affair. There have been 32 transactions, including a new contract for Bruno Fernandes; “a crucial part of the transfer strategy; I can’t speak highly enough of the influence he brings to the other players as captain”.
United have committed around £200m for new players, brought in almost £100m in departures, made five major signings, addressed their PSR problems with the sales of the homegrown Scott McTominay and Mason Greenwood, found a resolution to the issue of Jadon Sancho, shown greater ruthlessness than in the past by disposing of players unlikely to figure prominently in the first team, and started to make themselves better sellers.
They have also begun the season with a narrow win and then back-to-back defeats, the latter an emphatic loss to Liverpool. United languish in 14th, though their hierarchy are adamant manager Erik ten Hag retains their full backing.
And if Ashworth’s words have to come in the context that he was speaking after the transfer window closed, but before Liverpool won at Old Trafford, it is also notable that two of those five recruits – Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte – are yet to debut, and that two more – Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee – have a solitary start apiece. It is too soon to judge the success of their summer trading.
But not to assess the approach. “They were the four key positions we really wanted to strengthen in this window and we’ve done that,” Ashworth said. The departures of Anthony Martial, the on-loan Sofyan Amrabat and Raphael Varane left gaps for a striker, a holding midfielder and a centre-back; United decided they wanted two central defenders. The fifth addition, Noussair Mazraoui, was more opportunistic, when Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sold to West Ham for £15m. “Aaron had a year left on his contract, had an opportunity to move on, so we were able to freshen it up and trade that position,” Ashworth explained.
Sales had a significance. United have struggled to offload players in recent years; high earners have often only departed when contracts expired. As it is, they are paying some of Sancho’s wages for his loan at Chelsea. They still have Casemiro’s supersized pay packet.
But they have sold the younger contingent of Willy Kambwala, Alvaro Fernandez, Will Fish, Hannibal Mejbri and Facundo Pellistri. Sell-on and buy-back clauses give United options and potential profit. “We have tried to put in place certain policies to protect us in the future,” said chief executive Omar Berrada.
Their formula was also designed to forge a smaller squad. United have accumulated too many players at times, paying them wages without recouping sizeable fees. “Sometimes you have to be quite brave and make decisions that maybe you don't want to make, but you can't have a bloated squad,” said Ashworth.
United have long been a buying club, but they have to be a selling club, too. McTominay’s exit was the most contentious; Ten Hag would like to have kept a man who was on United’s books for 22 years. A byproduct of Profitability and Sustainability Rules is that it can be most lucrative to sell academy products. United believe in FFP, but see the problem it has created.
“The fundamental principle of the rules, we are in favour of, which is that we need to operate sustainably,” said Berrada. Ashworth added: “The number of players that will be one-club players, there for a long, long period of time, is probably changing within the game and that's an unintended consequence of the rules and regulations.”
United had little leeway within PSR this year after heavy spending under the previous power brokers. So every price mattered. As a club, they tended to talk of the “United tax”: the premium they often paid for players, and the way others would inflate fees when they were interested. This summer, United believe they have not paid it. Mazraoui cost an initial £13m, Zirkzee £36.5m, De Ligt £42m, Yoro £52m and Ugarte £42m, though add-ons could take four of those fees higher.
Berrada said: “We were quite disciplined about the valuations we were giving to the players who were going to come in. We stuck to those valuations. Dan and the team did a fantastic job in the negotiations process. They have done an excellent job executing the ins and outs.”
The damage of a failed signing can go beyond poor performances on the pitch. “If you make a mistake and if you overspend or get a player who can cost you too much, it can set you back,” said Berrada. No names were proffered but, a couple of hours later, Casemiro’s wretched performance against Liverpool underlined the problems of signing him for £63m, while Antony continues to represent a waste of £86m. Unsurprisingly, United have not found a buyer for either.
It sometimes seems United are caught in a pattern of trying to make up for past mistakes, presenting a stiff task for a new regime intent on restoring them to the summit of the game. “It’s not just as simple as being able to change everybody, nor do we want to,” said Ashworth. “It’s just about making good decisions in the next few windows to maximise our resources and the talent we've already put in the squad.”
If an overhaul appears an annual affair at Old Trafford, Berrada’s former employers at City only made two first-team signings this summer. Ashworth likes the current group of players but it prompts the question of when United will reach the stage where their squad only requires tweaks.
“It’s almost impossible to put a timescale,” said Berrada. “What I can say is it has been demonstrated when you look at the teams who have been successful consistently for many years it’s because they have the right coach, they have signed the right players, they have the right structure around the coach and the players and you need to take good decisions consistently for many years.
“We don’t want to just win one Premier League and then be satisfied. We want to create a team that is capable of competing for the Champions League, for the Premier League and for the domestic cups on a consistent basis.”
United lack nothing in ambition; the test for the people charged with making it happen is to turn dreams into reality.
