The most telling recent indication of Manchester United‘s approach to transfer business is the club’s final offer for Rasmus Hojlund increasing by around £27million in a day earlier this summer.
On July 27, United’s football director John Murtough flew from their American tour to Bergamo on Italy’s Alpine border, where he was joined by the club’s chief transfer negotiator Matt Hargreaves for talks with Atalanta over the Danish international striker, who had moved to Serie A from Sturm Graz for £15m 12 months earlier.
The meeting on the 28th began with United’s team expecting to pay no more than £45m for Hojlund, but concluded with them reaching agreement on a deal that could see the fee rise to £72m.
Hojlund’s father Anders had also travelled from his home in Copenhagen to Bergamo, but was not permitted to attend the meeting.
Atalanta may have had good reason to exclude him, as sources with knowledge of the negotiations have told Mail Sport that the club had given him a verbal agreement that his son could leave for 55m euros, a revelation which led to bafflement elsewhere at Old Trafford that United’s negotiators did not seek to use this to their advantage.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has his work cut out if he is to take charge of sporting operations at United but his first priority should be sorting out the club’s transfer strategy
The most telling recent indication of United’s approach to transfers was their final offer for Rasmus Hojlund increasing by around £27million in one day
United previously agreed to pay Ajax £82m for Antony despite widespread reservations at the size of the fee
United’s football director John Murtough (right) is one of the key personnel responsible for providing Erik ten Hag’s squad with the reinforcements he wants
Murtough and Hargreaves left Bergamo happy with the deal on the grounds that Atalanta had wanted £86.5m however, and the transfer was announced on August 5. While Hojlund has started well after recovering from a back injury and looks like a good signing for United, the negotiations appear to confirm the club’s habit of over-paying for players.
A study released last month by the Swiss-based research institute CIES Football Observatory showed that United have spent £1.67billion on new players since 2014, with their net-spend of £1.19bn over £300m higher than the second-most profligate club in Chelsea.
The numbers are…