With just five games to go between now and the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Manchester United’s main focus will soon switch to the summer transfer window and planning for next season.
This forthcoming summer is set to mark one of the most important in United’s rich and colourful history, with new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work. Alongside United’s new-look hierarchy, he has grand ambitions to bring the good times back to M16.
Despite much of the outside conversation focusing on Erik ten Hag’s future, United need to make overdue changes this summer, regardless of who the manager is. Alterations need to be made to the landscape of the squad, both in terms of incomings and outgoings.
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As reported by the Manchester Evening News in February, United are planning for record sales this summer. Ratcliffe wants United to become more proactive in the seller’s market and exits could reach double figures.
The Ineos Group are understood to have identified sellable assets within the squad and they are ready to consider offers for almost every member of the first team. Only Andre Onana, Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund are understood to be untouchable.
Although United are prepared to consider offers for some of their big-name stars, they are not actively looking to push them out the door. Furthermore, it would be impossible to offload almost every member of the squad and replace them within the same window. Ratcliffe’s project will take multiple windows.
Nevertheless, United’s desire to become proactive in the seller’s market is a step in the right direction. The club has been guilty of stockpiling players in recent years, failing to recoup respectable transfer fees in the process.
United have failed to perfect the art of two-way recruitment, with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City, for example, mastering it in recent years. City’s sale of James Trafford to Burnley last summer, fresh from a loan spell at League One side Bolton Wanderers, is a prime example.
United need to evolve and move forward, hence Ratcliffe is keen for the number of exits this summer to break double figures. Despite the club’s need for fresh blood, they do have figures within their ranks that are attractive options.
With that said, they are finally in the process of heeding the warning outlined by former interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who revealed concerns about United’s recruitment strategy long before he had any affiliation with the club. Back in 2019, while reflecting on the club’s woes in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, the German highlighted the importance of perfecting the art of recruitment, pointing out where the Reds had gone wrong.
“Since Sir Alex left they were underperforming,” said Rangnick. “They haven’t won the title since he left.
“At any club, if you cannot get the right players, then you should at least not sign the wrong ones. You are in trouble if you do that in one or two or three consecutive transfer windows.
“Club building is about building the right squad by transferring the right players away and having more than 50 per cent success rate of bringing in the right players. Then you must have the best possible coaches to develop these players.”
United have refrained from selling players at the right juncture too often in recent years. Jesse Lingard was a prime example.
He had flourished in the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan at West Ham United, his stock was at an all-time high, he had suitors and yet former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer persuaded him to stay by offering him a major role that never was. He left for nothing the following year.
That summarises where United have gone wrong. Any other elite-level club would have cashed in and secured a fee ahead of his contract expiring 12 months later.
United need to start acting like an elite-level club again and perfecting the art of recruitment will be key. However, the fact very few are safe from being shown the exit door this summer proves those overdue changes are in the offing.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
