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This summer sees Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s first experience of the transfer market at the helm of Manchester United.
So far United have submitted a couple of bids for the likes of Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Barcelona’s Vitor Roque, whilst also advancing talks with Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt and Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee.
Unfortunately, no bid has been accepted, with the Red Devils being expected to double their initial bids in most instances. Everton have rejected the £35 million for Branthwaite, holding strong for bids in the region of £80 million, Barcelona have rejected a £29.6 million bid for Vitor Roque, asking for at least £50.6 million for the striker.
Previously United have severely overpaid for players with the like of Antony, Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho currently in the squad despite the ridiculous asking prices that for some reason the Red Devils agreed to.
But why are United regularly being pushed to seemingly overpay for players in the transfer market?
Well, in a recent report from The Athletic, the term ‘United Tax’ has been explained.
Having really become a thing since Sir Alex Ferguson retired from his role at Old Trafford, the club has had an incredible series of revenues, with the Premier League side recording more than £648million during the last financial year, so it’s a little tricky for the staff leading on negotiations to argue that they’re struggling for funds to meet asking prices.
The report went on to give a very visual description of the ‘United Tax’, saying: “One person familiar with the situation compares United’s effect — and that of other Premier League clubs — on the transfer market to that of a bus of wealthy, American tourists entering a mountain-top village somewhere in Europe, where suddenly the prices in the shop windows shoot up. Even then, they insist there was a willingness to walk away from deals when necessary.”
However, others suggest that the ‘United Tax’ could have been avoided, however has come from the club’s approach with recruitment and their consistently high levels of spending seeing them as easy pickings for other clubs who need funds. If this is the case, he only way to remove the ‘United Tax’ would be to have a firmer stance in negotiations, walking away if the price is too high.
With INEOS’ assembled directors of Jason Wilcox, Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada and Christopher Vivell now at the club, hopefully United will see a turn around in their recruitment strategies which will in time see the club move away from paying extortionate fees for future targets.
