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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Omar Garrick

Manchester United's Achilles heel is making them repeat the same transfer window mistakes

As we approach the near-end of the January transfer window, there's so far been no indications that Manchester United will be active in the market.

It remains to be seen whether Ralf Rangnick will bring someone into the club, but it feels like a lot also hinges on the potential outgoings in the team.

United's squad is massive. The reports of dressing room discontent have probably stemmed from some players not receiving regular game time and therefore wanting to leave.

Dean Henderson, Donny van de Beek, Jesse Lingard, and Anthony Martial haven't had enough minutes to show their worth to the team, resulting in players being unhappy and wanting a fresh challenge elsewhere.

However, it currently looks like all of them will be staying put until the summer because United is refusing to let them go or other teams can't afford them. But this is just a similar mistake to the ones they've made in the past, and it'll consequently come back to bite Rangnick and the next permanent manager.

United has always been terrible at selling players for three reasons; player value, awarding long-term contracts, and wages.

For some strange reason, United continues to set a high value for their players to make the most money possible. Someone needs to give them a wake-up call though, because no one will ever meet their valuations (unless you're Leeds United with Dan James).

As we've seen with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, they've all been successful in shipping their unused players because they don't command over-the-top price tags, and it's clear that United still haven't learnt from them.

United have always struggled to offload their unwanted stars (Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images) ((Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images))

According to ESPN, Flamengo have offered £6.7m of United's on-loan midfielder, Andreas Pereira, but apparently, the Red's are seeking to gain more than £10m.

Can you not see what the issue is here? Pereira has long been not required at United, but they're still trying to play hardball for a player who isn't good enough. Just sell him, take the money and move on!

Similarly, United could've sold the likes of Lingard and Paul Pogba for substantial transfer fees had they not put a hefty asking price on them. Instead, they'll be losing them for free and look like complete mugs.

United always seem to reward long contracts too. Phil Jones got given a contract extension until 2023 in 2019, yet he's been on the sidelines for most of that time. It's not how an elite club operates.

A similar scenario happened with Andreas Pereira, Ashley Young, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic. All were clearly past it when rewarded new deals, yet four remain at the club.

As supporters have known in the past, United always offers astronomical wages to their players, which has also impacted how they can't offload players.

Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez are just some of the examples in which United had to loan unwanted players out because no one could afford their ridiculous salaries. They all eventually departed permanently, but it took way too long.

We're now seeing the same problem with Anthony Martial. He wants to leave United, Rangnick isn't using him, but still, he's stuck in limbo due to the club's demands.

It's been widely reported that Sevilla were interested in Martial's services on loan, but United were only willing to let him leave if they paid half of his wages and a loan fee.

For fans, it makes you want to tear your hair out. It's these fundamental decisions that are holding the club back. Sometimes you've got to take what you're offered, and it just feels like they're obsessed with not being taken for granted.

Consequently, it's going to impact future rebuilds, either under Rangnick or the next manager. Not being able to offload the deadwood means you can't bring any fresh faces in.

It's something United need to change; otherwise, they'll continue to fail.

Do United need to get better at selling players? Follow our United On My Mind writer Omar Garrick on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.

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