- Manchester United have the most expensive squad in the Premier League
- The Red Devils team cost £379.4m to assemble
- Louis van Gaal has made a number of big money signings
- Angel di Maria moved to Old Trafford in a £59.7m move from Real Madrid
Louis
van Gaal won’t have any excuses if Manchester United fail to mount a
title challenge this season – he has easily the most expensive squad in
the Premier League at his disposal.
After
a tumultuous summer transfer window closed last week, Mail on Sunday
research can reveal the United boss has been left with a squad that cost
£379.4million to assemble, more than either Manchester City manager
Manuel Pellegrini or Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho can boast.
Since
Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement a little over a year ago, United’s new
'noisy neighbours' policy has seen them spend a staggering £215 million
on players to try and stay on top of the tree.
VIDEO Scroll down to watch Louis van Gaal: A new team is not built in one month
No excuses:the Manchester United squad at Louis van Gaal's disposal is worth a staggering £379million
Big deals: Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao both arrived at Old Trafford in big-money moves this summer
In
the last window alone, they broke the British transfer record fee on
Angel Di Maria and signed Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and
Daley Blind before splashing out a further £5million to take Falcao on
loan from Monaco.
While
Burnley broke their transfer record by paying £3million for George
Boyd, United have 16 players that they paid at least £10million for.
And
while there has been criticism that the squad is top-heavy with
attacking players, van Gaal will have a goalkeeper David de Gea and
defenders Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Rafael, Rojo, Shaw and Blind
available – signed for a total of £104.7million
To
put it into context, the figure United have spent on defenders
(including goalkeeper) is more than 15 Premier League clubs have spent
on their entire squads.
Record transfer: George Boyd joined Burnley for £3m - United boast 16 players who cost at least £10m
The
change in the Premier League landscape is due to Roman Abramovich and
Sheikh Mansour reining in spending to comply with financial fairplay
regulations while United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward attempts
to prove his club are major players in European football despite
finishing only seventh last season and missing out on the Champions
League.
United
want to build a team that mixes superstars and homegrown talent – an
English version of Real Madrid during their Galactico years.
The
Essex-born accountant, who went to the same public school as Frank
Lampard, may have a quieter personality than Manchester City’s former
CEO Garry Cook but they have a similar vision for their football clubs;
speculate to accumulate and make the world know you’re there.
Woodward
made it clear last year he would have broken the world-transfer record
had Gareth Bale or Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to move to Old Trafford and
he will spend more in January on Kevin Strootman and a top-class
defender, with the option to buy Falcao for £45million next summer.
Talented: Left back Luke Shaw moved to Manchester United from Southampton in a £30m switch
All smiles: Daley Blind shakes hands with manager Louis van Gaal having joined Man United from Ajax
Financial
analysts Deloitte confirmed: ‘Manchester United have recorded the
highest ever gross spend by a Premier League club in a summer transfer
window. The Red Devils have spent £150m on new talent this window,
representing 18% of the aggregate gross transfer spend by Premier League
clubs.’
In
one sense, it is a throwback to the years when Ferguson started out and
consistently broke the transfer record to sign the likes of Gary
Pallister, Roy Keane and Andy Cole. Over time though, particularly once
The Glazers were installed, the spending dropped as City dominated.
Now,
the wheel is turning back as Woodward realises United can not afford to
be out of Europe for more than a season if they want to attract the top
talent.
On
the other side of Manchester, City - regarded as the biggest-spending
club in world sport - will actually go into this season with a squad
that is £26million cheaper than United’s, at £353.7million.
Mourinho
has a squad that cost £301.3million with plenty of other signings like
Fernando Torres and Marco van Ginkel loaned out and not available to him
this season.
Overall, the figures underline the close relationship between how much you spend and what success you can expect to achieve.
There
is a huge gap in transfer spending between six clubs – United, City,
Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham – and the rest. Everton have the
seventh-most expensive squad, costing nearly £96million.
Big spenders: Premier League clubs splashed the cash this summer in a bid to improve their squads
Two of the current bottom three in the Premier League, Burnley and Crystal Palace, are also in the bottom three of spenders.
However,
there are some exceptions. United, for one. They are No1 in spending
but currently sit 14th in the table without a league win this season.
That will change once the new signings all play, starting against QPR
next Sunday.
The
other honourable exception is Swansea City. Their 25-man squad, plus
eligible under-21s, cost a relatively modest £44.6million – less than
any other club in the division bar four. Yet they have enjoyed success
in the top flight over the last two seasons and are currently joint-top
with maximum points from three matches.
There
is concern that the ever-increasing spending from the top Premier
League clubs will kill competition over time and may even put clubs down
the pecking order out of business.
Former
Manchester City manager Brian Horton, now assistant-manager at League
One Doncaster Rovers, warned at the MBNA Northwest Football Awards last
week: ‘The whole Premier League world has escalated out of all
proportion in terms of transfer fees and players’ wages
‘Unless
we change something then some of those clubs lower down will go and
that will be a major shame because the set-up we have, with the 92
clubs, is the best in the world.’
It’s
a fair argument but van Gaal, who let his hair down last week while
watching new signing Blind collect the Dutch Football Writers’ Player of
the Season award, will point out he is under pressure too.
United have talked the talk financially, there are now 379 million reasons for the Dutchman to walk the walk.
