Ten Hag went crazy, challenged the new owner, and after wasting 400 million transfer fees, he still had to buy and sell players
According to ESPN Manchester United reporter Rob Dawson, Manchester United manager Ten Hag recently told new sporting director Sir Brailsford that he has absolute decision-making power over transfer transactions in his contract with Manchester United, and he hopes that the new chairman, Sir Ratcliffe, will respect the spirit of the contract and continue to allow him to have this power.
The 71-year-old Sir Ratcliffe is the owner of the world-famous enterprise INEOS Group, and is at the top of the Forbes wealth list, worth as much as 22.8 billion pounds. He has just bought a 25% stake in Manchester United for £1.3 billion and retains the right to further expand his shareholding.
In fact, Ten Hag's request has been called against the sky. It is precisely because Ratcliffe had secret talks with Manchester United owner Glazer before buying the shares, asking him to transfer and operate the team after he settled in Manchester United. At present, Sir Brailsford, who is checking the accounts at Manchester United, is from the INEOS Group, and is the right-hand man of Lord La, who has just taken office, and has carried out an account check, which is due to Lord La's belief that Manchester United has made many transfers this year, and there is a suspicion that the premium is too high.
Since Ten Hag took charge, United have made a number of blockbuster transfers. In 2022, Manchester United bought 100 million euros for Antony, 80 million euros for Casemiro and 60 million euros for Lisandro Martinez. In 2023, Manchester United bought another €80 million for Hojlen, €70 million for Mason Mount and €5,800 for Onana. In just two summer windows, Ten Hag personally designated the players to buy, as high as 450 million euros.
On the other hand, the performance of these players, Onana has one highlight, one mistake, and no stability as a goalkeeper. Antony and Hojlen, who form the Premier League dumb fire, have scored goals this season plus one league goal together. Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro have formed a crutchet squad that has seen a lack of consistency in their playing time due to injury, with the trio combined playing just 30 games for United this year. It can be said that none of the six blockbuster transfers led by Ten Hag are worth the money.
It is precisely because of the unsatisfactory performance of the players bought that fans and the media speculate whether Ten Hag has played a disgraceful role in these transfers, selling these players at a premium, collecting transfer exhaustion, and borrowing Manchester United's golden rooster to lay eggs for himself. This is the beginning of the article, after Sir Brailsford settled in, he made an audit move.
In fact, most media and fans think Ten Hag has gone crazy for daring to challenge the authority of the new owner and reaffirm his 'complete autonomy' in the transfer deal. Even before he took office, he reiterated that he would support manager Ten Hag until the end of the season, at least for this season. A few days ago, "Milan Sport" even thought that Lord La will buy Dutch right-back Dumfries as a gift for Ten Hag, hoping that he can lead Manchester United to catch up in the lower plate city, at least to the Champions League zone.
However, now that he is stubborn in the core transfer matter, trying to resist stubbornly and to the extreme, then I am afraid that Ratcliffe, who bought Manchester United to understand the transfer operation, will swing a butcher's knife at him and let him understand who is the real controller of Old Trafford.