Manchester United’s financial mismanagement has been a slowly burning fire in the background at the club.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, accelerant was poured onto the fire by a succession of terrible transfer deals.
Despite hope of a new start, this extended into the Erik ten Hag era, and arguably got worse, with £82 million signed off on Antony, £60 million on Casemiro, and a year later, £55 million on Mason Mount.
If you wanted to defend Mount, you could argue he has not had a chance to be truly bad, due to injuries, yet that’s part of the problem. He has made just nine Premier League starts for United, and it feels like even fewer.
Marcel Sabitzer would have been true value for money
Manchester United bought Mason Mount in 2023. The club could have purchased Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich instead for a fraction of the price.
Sabitzer was signed on loan in January 2023. He made seven Premier League starts, and 18 appearances for Manchester United in total, in just four months.
Mason Mount has played 32 games in 18 months at United, but many have been only short substitute appearances. He has only just overtaken Sabitzer in terms of minutes, and scored fewer goals.
| Minutes played for Manchester United | Goals scored for United | |
| Mason Mount | 1,159 | 1 |
| Marcel Sabitzer | 1,044 | 3 |
Sabitzer was not perfect – but he would have been useful. He has since gone onto play almost 50 games for Borussia Dortmund since joining them, while also starring at Euro 2024 for Austria.
Dortmund paid just £16 million to sign Sabitzer, approximately £40 million less than it cost Manchester United to sign Mason Mount.
This extra £40 million in summer 2023 could have allowed Manchester United to sign Harry Kane or Victor Osimhen instead of Rasmus Hojlund.
Sabitzer showing quality on Champions League stage
Marcel Sabitzer played a role in helping Borussia Dortmund reach the 2023/24 Champions League final, and he is looking to do the same again this season.
On February 19, he played a starring role as Dortmund sealed a 3-0 aggregate victory over Ruben Amorim’s former club Sporting, eliminating them from the competition.
- 3 Chances Created
- 95% Pass Accuracy
- 91 Touches
- 2/3 Tackles Won
- 1 Shot on target
Sabitzer would have a useful option for United, he appeared to embrace the Premier League and was adaptable, potentially fitting well into Ruben Amorim’s system too.
Erik ten Hag overlooked him, taking a swing on Mason Mount instead. It has not worked out at all.
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