Manchester United will soon embark in a new direction under the stewardship of Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, mercifully bringing an end to the troubled Glazers era.
But while United fans have criticized the Glazers, the club have actually spent big in recent windows. The problem is that they have often spent on the wrong players.
Here is a look at five big-money signings Manchester United already regret making.
Raphaël Varane
Manchester United must have thought they were getting a good deal when they secured Raphaël Varane from Real Madrid for 34 million pounds in the summer 2021 transfer window.
Although Varane was coming off an injury-riddled season, the Frenchman was once one of the world’s best center backs and had been playing at a high level in the 2019/20 season when Zinedine Zidane‘s transformed defense led Los Blancos back to LaLiga glory.
Perhaps Varane’s disasterclass against Gabriel Jesus and Manchester City was a sign of things to come. Varane hasn’t been bad for United, per se, but he has clearly not justified his wages, nor has he been at the world-class level United expected.
Real Madrid definitely sold Varane at the right time, as Éder Militão has gone on to become an even better center back than the former World Cup winner.
Mason Mount
Manchester United just bought Mason Mount this past summer from Chelsea for a cool 55 million pounds plus another five million pounds in add-ons.
What made this transfer so ridiculous at the time was the fact that Chelsea had no leverage. Mount wanted out and nobody else wanted him half as badly as United and Erik ten Hag.
Even so, United splurged for a playmaker they didn’t need, given they already had one of the league’s best 10’s in Bruno Fernandes, as well as an up-and-coming star in Alejandro Garnacho.
Mount barely plays for United due to injuries, and, when he does, he is exactly the same flawed player he was at Chelsea who cannot quite meet the demands of an 8 or double-pivot midfielder for a team with Champions League aspirations.
United are now saddled with an inexpensive, potentially injury-prone player who doesn’t fit their starting lineup.
Antony
Arguably the worst signing of them all, at least Manchester United can say Antony is relatively young at the age of 24, but he might not have anything else going for him.
Antony has skill, yes, but he fails to translate that into any sort of consistency and is one of the most disappointing wingers in the Premier League from a creative standpoint.
It boggles the mind that ten Hag would alienate Jadon Sancho and support Antony, who is so inadequate on the right wing that ten Hag cannot even pretend he is a superior option to attacking midfielder Garnacho.
Manchester United spent nearly 100 million euros to sign Antony from Ajax when they very much didn’t have to, given, as with the Mount signing, Ajax had no real leverage to set such a high asking price.
Harry Maguire
Although the Red Devils bought Harry Maguire several years ago from Leicester City not long after a big World Cup performance, the England international epitomizes the bad business the club has made.
Maguire isn’t as disastrous as some will say, but the fact of the matter is that the “fridge” has never been good enough to justify his sky-high 80 million pound transfer fee and wages.
Sure, he is good on the ball, but there are several better and cheaper center backs at making passes, and Maguire’s flubs are absolutely atrocious.
At this point, Maguire is in the column of players who aren’t bad but aren’t good enough to start for United. Like the others, he only gets games for United because they can’t find anyone else willing to take him.
Casemiro
It’s wild to think that Casemiro is a signing Manchester United regret, because he is still is a very good defensive midfielder. He was also invaluable in helping the club qualify for the Champions League this season.
Look where they are now, though. United are outside the top four, Casemiro is often injured, and he isn’t an important player when he does start.
Casemiro’s limitations on the ball are starting to rear their head, and United fans are seeing why, as with Varane, Real Madrid sold the Brazilian star in order to replace him with a better and younger defensive midfielder in Aurélien Tchouaméni.
Although Case can at least still start for United, he has no resale value at 32 and was purchased only a couple of years ago for a whopping 60 million pounds. Chalk this one up as another poor investment.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.