Six times Man Utd were right not to pay £100 million for expensive transfers, and one time we should have

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester United have baulked at the prospect of paying huge fees this summer. History suggests the club are correct to do so.

It is 10 years since Manchester United broke the transfer record to sign Paul Pogba. Now after Sandro Tonali’s move to Tottenham, the Pogba deal is only the 10th highest in Premier League history.

United have refused to pay in the £100 million range, despite consistent demand from clubs over the years. And largely it has been a sensible stance.

Here is a look at six times Manchester United were quoted £100 million or more for players, and six times the club was right not to pay up.

Joao Felix

Joao Felix was the winner of the Golden Boy award in 2019 after his breakthrough performances for Benfica.

Manchester United were one of the clubs to take an interest in the Portuguese wonderkid, only to be pointed towards Felix’s £113 million release clause.

United chose not to trigger the clause, leaving the path clear for Atletico Madrid to do so, splashing out a club record fee to bring Felix to Spain.

Felix has failed to live up to his potential, spending two indifferent spells at Chelsea, and he is now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al-Nassr at the age of 26.

Jadon Sancho

Manchester United’s decision to spend £73 million on Jadon Sancho was waste of money. But it could have been a lot worse.

In summer 2020, Borussia Dortmund demanded that Manchester United pay £108 million to sign Sancho, or not at all.

United sensibly ignored this demand, and it looked like the club had struck a comparative bargain when the £73 million fee was agreed in 2021.

Unfortunately it wasn’t, with Sancho becoming one of the Premier League’s worst ever signings. At least he wasn’t £108 million though.

Jack Grealish

Also in 2020, Manchester United had hoped to swoop to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa if they suffered relegation.

Villa stayed up and hiked Grealish’s price tag to the point that Manchester United immediately folded their hand and walked away.

Noisy neighbours City took the bait and paid the full £100 million to convince Villa to sell up.

Grealish struggled to live up to his price tag and spent last season loaned out to Everton, failing to make the England World Cup squad.

Evan Ferguson

Brighton talked themselves out of a sale by slapping a £100 million price tag on promising young striker Evan Ferguson.

Ferguson was subsequently saddled with that extra pressure, and has struggled to meet that high valuation of his talent, also battling with injuries.

Last season Ferguson spent time on loan at Roma and then West Ham, scoring a combined five goals.

Brighton might be lucky to get £25 million for Ferguson at this point, however, the young stiker is only 21 and has plenty of time to get his career back on track.

Tyler Dibling

Clubs know Manchester United have money to spend, and ridiculous price tags are frequently set for transfer targets. Tyler Dibling was a case in point.

After making some encouraging performances for Southampton, Manchester United were credited with interest, before the Saints set a £100 million price tag.

United walked away, and Southampton ended up selling Dibling for £40 million to Everton.

Dibling went on to have a horrendous 2025/26 season, making only four Premier League starts.

Carlos Baleba

The one midfielder tried to sign in summer 2025, Brighton declared Carlos Baleba would not even be for sale at £100 million.

Baleba was clearly distracted by the transfer speculation and struggled with his form for most of the season.

It has left many United fans wondering if Baleba is even worth £50 million, or if he is good enough to play for the club at all.

The exception: Declan Rice

There is one time Manchester United have been proven wrong not to splash out £100 million on a player.

West Ham rebuffed previous advances from United for Declan Rice and eventually sold him for £100 million to Arsenal in summer 2023.

Rice has proved to be a consistent performer and played a key role in Arsenal’s title success in 2025/26.

Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted it was a mistake not to sign Rice. He failed to prioritise a midfielder in summer 2021, and chose to sign winger Sancho instead.