“United have not been mean with the cheque book, they’ve actually spent an awful lot of money,” Sir Jim Ratcliffe said earlier this year.
The Manchester United co-owner was in the midst of criticising how wasteful the club has been when it has come to splashing the cash in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. The Reds have spent north of £1billion since the legendary Scot’s retirement and the number of success stories do not take long to count.
One of United’s biggest failings of the past 11 years has been the way in which they have splashed the cash recklessly, rarely getting their money’s worth. They have wasted an enormous amount on players who have not come anywhere close to justifying such lucrative price tags.
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Few players fit that bracket more than Jadon Sancho and Antony. United spent a collective £158.4million to bring the two wingers to Old Trafford in back-to-back summer transfer windows.
Sancho was one of the most coveted stars in football when United swooped for him in July 2021, signing him from Borussia Dortmund, and almost everyone was confident he would replicate the form he had produced in Germany in England. Three years since he made the move to Old Trafford, he has scored just 12 goals in 82 appearances and has already spent six months back in Germany.
Just over a year later, following the appointment of Erik ten Hag, United attempted to correct their right-wing troubles for a second time in as many summer windows, swooping for Antony. He was hand-picked by Ten Hag and it was hoped he would succeed where Sancho had failed.
Between them, Sancho and Antony have scored 23 goals in 164 matches in United colours. It is an indefensible return.
But while Sancho’s United career is as good as over, following his public fallout with Ten Hag almost a year ago, Antony is still in with a chance of turning his Old Trafford fortunes around. Many United fans will argue he should be a player Ineos attempt to offload this summer, but that is a far easier said than done task because of a handful of factors.
Highly likely to still be a United player come the end of the transfer window, Antony faces the challenge of competing with three colleagues for a starting berth on the right-wing. United’s other right-wing options currently include Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri and Amad. Sancho’s only hope of being welcomed back into that group would have relied on Ten Hag being axed.
With Sancho destined to leave, either on loan or permanently, Garnacho, Pellistri, Antony and Amad are the ones vying for the title of right-wing-in-chief. Garnacho was the subject of a tactical switch by Ten Hag midway through last season, swapping the left for the right, and he ended the season by starting and scoring in the FA Cup final from that flank.
He was United’s best winger by some distance last season, scoring 10 goals and registering five assists. On that evidence, the right wing berth is his to lose.
However, Antony, Amad and Pellistri will all be of the opinion they are each good enough to start week-in, week-out, either at Old Trafford or elsewhere. Of that trio, Pellistri is the most likely to depart this summer, with Real Valladolid already expressing interest in signing the Uruguayan.
Since joining United in 2020, he has played just 24 times and has been sent out on loan twice. There is a general feeling that it would be in everybody’s best interests for him to secure a permanent exit.
Should that possibility come to fruition, United, providing Sancho is also moved on, would be down to three players who are options for the right. That is a healthy and manageable figure, especially when Garnacho is equally capable of playing on the left as well.
Currently, United’s attacking department is overrun with right-sided options, and a tally of four players is unbalanced and unhealthy. Three options, however, is a lot more manageable.
Amad finally forced his way into Ten Hag’s thinking at the end of last season and will be targeting an increase in minutes, reducing Pellistri’s hopes of making the grade in the process. Along with Sancho, he needs moving on this summer.
If United can get those two off the books, ideally on permanent deals, their attack will have a more balanced look to it and they will have raised some much-needed funds. It would be a win-win for everyone.