[Reporter s Observation] The investment in signings is huge, why is it so difficult for Manchester United to restore top-level configurations?

Premier League giant Manchester United has had poor record in recent years, but is still a popular balloon team with high attention. In order to restore his past glory, Manchester United actively signed up again this summer, officially introducing striker Mbemo from Brentford on July 22. Previously, forward Cunha was introduced from Wolves, and the transfer fees of the two new forward players combined were close to 150 million euros.

Manchester United has an extremely poor management team. Sir Ratcliff successfully acquired 25% of Manchester United's club in 2024. The well-known British rich man actually became Manchester United's football affairs director, but did not really change the chaos in the management of the "Red Devils". Manchester United has invested heavily in the transfer market over the years, but often cannot spend high transfer fees on the edge.

In the ranking of Manchester United's transfer fee signings, many of them are active players. Manchester United spent 95 million euros to introduce Brazilian winger Anthony, ranking second in team history; spent 85 million euros to introduce England winger Sancho, ranking fourth in team history; spent 77.8 million euros to introduce Danish center Hoylund, ranking sixth in team history.

Because he failed to play in his former good form after joining Manchester United, or could not realize his talents, Anthony, Sancho and Hoylund all became the targets of Manchester United's cleaning. Manchester United are preparing to fly to the United States for training and warm-up matches before the start of the new season. Anthony and Sancho will be excluded from the roster by coach Amorin. Argentine international Garnacho, who has been rumored to leave the team for a long time, will not accompany the team. Compared with when joining Manchester United, Anthony and Sancho's value was difficult to deal with. Now that they have been sent to the "cold palace" by Amorin, their treatment price may only be lower.

Manchester United keeps trying and wrong in signings. Anthony, Sancho, and Hoylund all performed bravely or showed their talents in other leagues, but after joining Manchester United, they were unable to adapt to the high intensity and high confrontation of the Premier League, which has become a classic case of failed signings in international football. This summer, Manchester United has learned a lot and no longer go to other leagues to poach talents. Instead, they look for players who have proved themselves in the Premier League. Mbemo, who is joined by Brentford, and Cunya, who is joined by Wolves, both belong to this category. Their transfer fees are 75 million euros and 74.2 million euros respectively. In Manchester United's history signing list, Mbemo and Cunha ranked eighth and ninth respectively.

In order to compete in the new UEFA Champions League as the UEFA Cup champion last season, Manchester United adopted a semi-give-abandoned attitude in the league, and finally ranked 15th in the worst Premier League history. However, Manchester United failed to get what they wanted in the UEFA Cup and lost to Tottenham in the finals, missing the Champions League ticket. Manchester United has no European mission in the new season. Although they can concentrate on playing in the league, they have reduced the team's attractiveness in the transfer market to a certain extent, so they can only go to mid- and lower-level teams in the Premier League to poach people. Mbemo and Cunha proved themselves at Brentford and Wolves, respectively. The former tied for fourth place in the Premier League scorer list with 20 goals last season, and the latter ranked eighth with 15 goals, but some fans questioned whether the giants could continue their previous good form.

Many players are often greatly reduced in small and medium-sized teams. Riquelme did not perform well in Barcelona and Diego Fran at Manchester United. They only played in peak form after reaching Villarreal. Manchester United seems to have gradually become a "star black hole", and playing football here is becoming increasingly difficult. Mbemo and Cunha from small and medium-sized teams need to get used to living in the spotlight and strive to regain their best form amid the accusations of various Manchester United legends.

At his peak, Manchester United was almost the top team in every position, such as Ronaldo and Rooney's forward partner, "Black Wind Double" York and Andy Cole, and the midfield combination of Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Keane, and Vidic and Ferdinand's central defender combination. The goalkeepers are both world-class, Schmeichel and Van dersar. Manchester United no longer has superstars in every position, and it is a long way to go to regain its glory.

Text丨Reporter Liu Yi