The issue of Financial Fair Play appears to be to blame for the sale of one key Man United player, after a former club insider admitted that Erik ten Hag and the board wanted him gone for a long time.
Transfer troubles have dogged the Red Devils over the past couple of seasons, and one only has to look to the hires of Antony and Rasmus Hojlund as two of the worst that have been made by the Dutchman.
They’re by no means the only flops of course, but it isn’t just with regard to incoming transfers where United’s failings have been highlighted.
Erik ten Hag wanted one reliable Man United ace gone
Selling reliable players such as Scott McTominay won’t have helped United’s cause, though it appears the club needed him out well before he eventually left.
“They wanted him (McTominay) gone for a long time,” former United scout, Mick Brown, told Football Insider.
“When I was at West Ham in 2023, they offered us McTominay, Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire.
“But what they had to do, in the end, was sell players in order to bring other players in. They didn’t have the finances just to spend big on buying a host of new players, especially with PSR hanging over them.
“They knew they couldn’t sign Ugarte because they’d have breached the regulations. That’s why they let him go in the end – to free up space for Ugarte to come in.
“This is a situation Man United have never been in before, they’ve always had money to spend. But either way it seems Ten Hag didn’t want him any more, and I don’t understand that.
“He always waves the flag, he’ll have a go no matter the situation or the opposition and he usually makes a good job of it.
“I don’t know why United never seemed able to see that because compared to some of the midfielders they’ve got, they’re nowhere near as good.”
Frankly, United should be well beyond needing to improve at this stage of the Dutchman’s tenure, and it would make a rumoured behind the scenes documentary at Old Trafford a recipe for disaster.
The long suffering Reds fans must surely understand that a change in the dugout is needed if the Red Devils are to get back to something approaching the glory years of seasons past.