Manchester United’s lack of transfer activity so far this window has come as a major disappointment to supporters.
It was hoped after a third placed finish and Champions League qualification that the club would invest, and substantially more than the £60 million net spend of summer 2019.
Perhaps we should have known better. The last time United qualified for the Champions League was 2018, and a poor summer followed.
Just Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant were signed, when United were crying out for world class additions to build on a second placed finish.
Six months later you could at least make the hindsight argument that the owners were reluctant to back the often antagonistic Jose Mourinho.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been anything but volatile. He is a good company man and even defended his employers earlier this year amid angry chants from supporters at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer was quoted by the MEN: “I can only say from when I’ve been here I’ve been backed by the owners, I’ve been backed by Ed and they’re supporting me.”
So far this transfer window there has been no show of support for the United manager.
You would think there has to be, because if not, the Glazers will be making their intentions clear for the rest of the world to see.
Excuses are gone
It is 15 years since the Glazers took over at United and the club’s finances look increasingly unhealthy as a result of their heavily debt-leveraged purchase oft he club.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s management distracted from their lack of investment. Once he was gone, it has become more obvious.
Yet in the seven years since Fergie retired, there has always been somebody else to blame, usually the manager.
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, and Jose Mourinho have all been the fall-guys, as well as numerous underperforming players. In 2020 it feels a little different.
The players ended the season playing strongly and did as much as they could to secure a third placed finish with a 14-game Premier League unbeaten run.
Solskjaer has done well to manage that and get the team back into the Champions League.
Now both manager and players need extra help. So far the Glazers are sitting on their hands.
The excuses over a lack of investment are gone. Even blaming the recent pandemic is a sham when you see how clubs like Chelsea are approaching the transfer window. The Glazers just don’t appear to care.
Money making machine
We all know by now that the Glazers do not care about Manchester United.
There is no communication with supporters, and no publicised plan to clear the club’s debts. There are no grand plans to refurbish or regenerate Old Trafford.
All the Glazers appear to care about is taking out £10 million plus in dividends every quarter.
A signing or two will not change this, but it will lay bare their antipathy and opportunism.
Are they really ready to so obviously expose this by not making a single signing this transfer window?
If they do, there will be no hiding place. The media and supporters will not blame Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or players for poor results.
It will all come back on the Glazers. They will be openly highlighting their disregard for United.
It is this which provides a little hope that United will actually make a few decent transfers before the deadline.
Surely the owners will not want all the negativity which is beginning to build up again to continue?
In a year in which they have big hopes in the US with NFL team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and new quarterback Tom Brady, you would think they will throw United a bone, and make a couple of signings or two to try and keep the fanbase quiet.
The Glazers’ strategy at United is to invest as little as possible each year and take as much out of the club as they can, while staying in the background.
By pushing this to the extreme and failing to deliver signings this summer which the club needs, they will be blindly pushing themselves into the spotlight.
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