Pranav Nair
Manchester United second only to Manchester City in transfer deficit post 2016
According to CIES Football Observatory, Manchester United have the second-highest transfer deficit in Europe post 2016.
The Red Devils have spent an impressive £730m since the summer of 2016 while managing to recoup just £215m in sales. This has seen the club post a gigantic deficit of -£515m over the last five years. (h/t The Daily Mail)
Only Manchester City have performed worse, with a deficit of -£548m in the same period.
With six Premier League sides in the top ten, the English top-flight is shown to enjoy a considerable advantage when it comes to splashing money.
Everton are in fifth position with a deficit of -£303m, a spot above Villa who have -£297m. Chelsea are in ninth position with -£270m, with Arsenal rounding off the top ten with -£262m.
Premier League champions Liverpool have posted a deficit of just -£113m that puts them in the 23rd spot. They are surprisingly behind the likes of Sheffield United, Brighton, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur and even Fulham. (h/t CIES)
Interestingly, United have spent less than the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, PSG and Juventus but have lacked the acumen to recoup that amount.
The club have made a number of poor investments in recent years. For every Bruno Fernandes, there is an Alexis Sanchez, who has been a colossal waste of investment.
Six of the starting XI against Everton at the weekend were brought in during the last five years. While some have succeeded, the jury is still out on those such as Victor Lindelof and even Harry Maguire.
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United broke their club-record fee (then world record) to land Paul Pogba in the summer of 2016. This was followed by the decision to break the world-record fee for a defender to bring in Harry Maguire in 2019.
Both players have shown promise but haven’t changed the fortunes of the club as expected. Thankfully, we also brought in a number of talented youngsters during this period.
Hopefully, these wonderkids go on to ensure we offset what has been a rather lavish outlay.
