The relationship between money and happiness is surprisingly weak. Similarly, making loads of money doesn’t attest to success, it’s how you spend it.
Erik Ten Hag recently made a declaration of war against big-money signings that turned out to be flops.
The United boss said: “The club has bought an unimaginable number of players in recent years who have not been good enough.
“Most purchases have been average – and at United average is not good enough.
“United’s shirt weighs heavily. Only real personalities, who can perform under great pressure, can play here”.
He’s right. Man United have a net spend of £545.8m on players in the last five years. The most of any Premier League club in that period.
That’s a lot of dosh being spunked and over what? Can you remember one signing that’s turned out great? Only transfer that comes to mind is Bruno Fernandes who has scored 38 goals from his 103 matches for United.
Ten Hag wants to put an emphasis on changing the spending culture. Since he joined, he has spent £204.4m and nearly all of them have turned out good. You could argue that we overpaid for Anthony to Ajax but that may be due to our reputation as a club as we have been used and abused in the market.
The club is a joke to the masses. No-one wants to treat Man United with respect in transfer windows and I don’t blame them. We spunked chunks of money and this is the consequence.
Ten Hag wants to put a stop to that. He recently wanted all his players to take a wage cut and to adapt to his new ‘£200,000 and no more’ wages policy to eradicate jealousy and stop the ridiculous wage structure from getting out of hand.
The red devil’s current season is hanging on a knife edge if they don’t make any signings to help cope with a heavy fixture list. But does that mean they should go out and splash on big names?
It is understandable that a new number nine could help brighten the shadows left by Ronaldo and add some firepower. The attack is currently carried on the shoulders of Marcus Rashford 2.0.
Dutch Striker, Wout Weghorst is currently rumoured to have agreed terms with Old Trafford but the Burnley player is currently on loan with Besiktas who need to find a replacement.
Some argue we shouldn’t be going for him because he isn’t ‘United quality’. Young, energetic, quick or a known name. However, he might actually be perfect for what they need at the moment.
Weghorst is known to be a workhorse who has scored 10 goals and four assists from 18 games this season. He has a reputation for pressing which is a key principle for playing in a Ten Hag system.
Weghorst registered the most pressing actions in the Premier League last season. He would fit our system quite well and comes cheap. He’s clearly moulded by the culture that Ten Hag wants to bring to Old Trafford so why not?
Take Mikel Arteta’s project at Arsenal for example. He has built his current table-topping side on a foundation of youth and kicking out toxic big name players.
Man United has had its fair share of them in the past with people like Ronaldo and Pogba causing fractures within the dressing room.
Weghorst may not win a popularity contest but his signing means something bigger. It means United aren’t looking to solve long term problems with short term solutions.
This one may be more of solving a short term problem with a short term solution due to the lack of options in the January striker market.
Ten Hag wants to lay his brick and mortar but he wants to do it his way. He wants to build his Rome. Let him do it because we can’t get any worse than we have been for the last ten years.
Written By: Kirirajan Sathananthan
