Manchester United spend big in pursuit of Premier League despite stalled sale process

MANCHESTER – Manchester United kick off their season at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday with fresh hope they can end a 10-year wait to win an English Premier League title after being backed by their wantaway owners.

Nine months on from an announcement by the Glazer family that they were

exploring a sale of the club,

the process has stalled. However, it has not stopped the Americans in financing moves to strengthen the squad, something fans need to “applaud the Glazers” for, says former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy.

Despite the uncertainty of the club’s future, Erik ten Hag has been backed with an initial £162 million (S$278.4 million) outlay

on goalkeeper Andre Onana,

midfielder Mason Mount and striker Rasmus Hojlund, so that the former Ajax Amsterdam boss can build on a positive first season in charge after he guided United back into the Champions League and ended a six-year trophy drought by lifting the League Cup back in February.

“I was actually surprised to see the business United had done because all the suggestions were the Glazers were going to sell the club, so a £200 million investment into key areas of the team must be a huge bonus for the manager,” Murphy said in his column for the Daily Mail.

“I understand the animosity of the supporters towards the owners and, to be honest, it looks irreversible. But you can’t question the owners backing their manager and trying to make United competitive.

“Whether fans want to or not, they have to applaud that because ultimately what you want is to see the team progress.”

Onana, who previously worked under ten Hag at Ajax, is a more natural fit for the Dutchman’s preference for a ball-playing goalkeeper than David de Gea, who

departed United after 12 years as No. 1

while Mount was both a fans’ favourite and trusted by a series of managers at Chelsea.

Some critics have questioned the spending of up to £72 million

on 20-year-old Dane Hojlund,

and claimed that United have overspent on potential rather than prioritising the attempt to try and land England striker Harry Kane from Tottenham.

Hojlund’s size and speed have earned comparisons to Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland. But whereas City knew they were already getting one of the world’s most clinical strikers in signing Haaland in 2022, Hojlund still has much to prove.

Atalanta banked an enormous profit on the player they had signed from Sturm Graz for just £17 million in 2022 and who scored only nine times during his spell in Serie A.

“We have chosen a striker and we are really happy with our choice. There is a strategy in every decision and we are happy with the squad we have now,” said ten Hag as he defended the decision to go for Hojlund over Kane.

Hojlund will be missing for the first few weeks of the season due to a back injury, while Tyrell Malacia, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo and goalkeepers Tom Heaton and Dean Henderson are also not available.

Wolves, however, go to Old Trafford in turmoil after losing their manager just days before the campaign started.

Julen Lopetegui

stepped down on Tuesday

due to a lack of available funding in the transfer market, and was replaced by Gary O’Neil. “The group have been working in a certain way under a different leadership for the last six weeks and now we have a game coming in three or four days against a very good side,” said the former Bournemouth boss. AFP