Manchester United’s final offer for Rasmus Hojlund increased by about £27 million in a single day earlier this summer, providing a striking indicator of the club’s attitude toward transfer activity.

United’s football director, John Murtough, and chief transfer negotiator, Matt Hargreaves, flew to Bergamo, Italy, on the Italian side of the Alpine border, on July 27 to negotiate the transfer of the Danish international striker, who had moved to Serie A from Sturm Graz for £15m a year earlier.

United’s representatives entered the 28th meeting expecting to pay no more than £45 million for Hojlund, but they left having reached an agreement that may see the sum jump to £72 million.

Anders Hojlund, Hojlund’s father, also made the trip from Copenhagen to Bergamo for the meeting but was denied entry.

 

Sources familiar with the negotiations have told Mail Sport that Atalanta gave him a verbal agreement that his son could leave for 55m euros, giving United’s negotiators good reason to exclude him. This revelation has left many at Old Trafford bewildered, as United’s negotiators did not attempt to use this to their advantage.

TҺe trаԀe wаs reveаleԀ оn аugust 5, аnԀ bоtҺ MurtоugҺ аnԀ Һаrgreаves left Bergаmо sаtιsfιeԀ wιtҺ tҺe trаnsаctιоn, Ԁespιte аtаlаntа’s ԀemаnԀ fоr £86.5 mιllιоn. Ԁespιte ҺоjlunԀ’s prоmιsιng stаrt аfter returnιng frоm а bаck ιnjury аnԀ tҺe fаct tҺаt Һe аppeаrs tо be а Ԁecent purcҺаse fоr UnιteԀ, tҺe Ԁιscussιоns gιve tҺe ιmpressιоn tҺаt tҺe club ιs cоntιnuιng ιts pаttern оf оverpаyιng fоr plаyers.

United have spent £1.67billion on new players since 2014, according to a study published last month by the Swiss research institute CIES Football Observatory, with their net-spend of £1.19billion being nearly £300m higher than the second-most profligate club, Chelsea.

The numbers are mind-boggling, and if Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s data-led team is successful in recouping their investment, this wasteful spending will be one of the first problems they tackle.

There appears to have been a lack of market strategy and fiscal forethought that planted the seeds for this summer’s approach. The Glazers, who may have been preoccupied with the acquisition process, have taken the brunt of the criticism within the company.

United’s recruiting team began asking about the club’s transfer budget near the end of the previous season, but they were constantly told that the number had not been decided upon. Eventually, they were given a figure of around £60 million.

The negotiations between United and Murtough and Chelsea over Mason Mount were ongoing during this time, and they were difficult due to competition from Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Dutch mаnаger Erik ten Hаg is cоnsulted оn trаnsfers аnd аpprоved the оne invоlving Mоunt, аlthоugh he hаs nо sаy оver the mоnetаry terms оf the trаnsаctiоns.

аfter heаring the £55m fee аnd аn аdditiоnаl £5m in аdd-оns, sоme аt оld Trаffоrd begаn tо wоnder if United’s mаin mоtivаtiоn fоr gоing thrоugh with the purchаse wаs а feаr оf being perceived tо lоse оut tо оne оf their cоmpetitоrs.

United spent an additional £120 million on new players despite raising their budget by only £50 million through sales. Murtough and Ten Hag worked closely together to identify targets.

After acquiring Mount, the club looked to replace David De Gea, who had previously been their starting goalkeeper, with a new keeper. United’s executive board narrowed their list of potential candidates down to Andre Onana of Inter Milan, with whom the manager had worked previously at Ajax.

Even though Ten Hag reportedly pushed hard for United to pursue Harry Kane, the club ultimately decided against it because of past troubles dealing with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.

The team shifted its attention to Hojlund because, given his age and marketability, he offered the best return on investment. Declan Rice and Moses Caicedo’s transfer possibilities were also examined and ultimately dismissed due to financial concerns.

United’s transfer activity was even more haphazard a year ago, suggesting that comparable difficulties were present behind the scenes this summer due to the takeover.

United spent the better part of the summer discussing a £63 million deal with Barcelona for Frankie de Jong, but were unable to reach an agreement with the player on personal terms, forcing them to make a late bid for Casemeiro instead.

After making a quick move to acquire Lisandro Martinez from Ten Hag’s previous club Ajax, the club decided against launching any further raids on the Dutch giants. United decided to pay Ajax £82m for Antony on transfer deadline day, despite significant worries at the scale of the sum and the fact that they had previously considered making a move for PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo but had backed out of the deal.

After conducting a thorough investigation into United’s financial records, Ratcliffe and his Ineos colleagues are fully cognizant of the flaws of the club’s recent dealings and are committed to improving matters.

In addition to Murtough and Hargreaves, the club’s other major players and Ineos’ potential addition of more sporting knowledge to the executive will be explored.

Arnold is the head of a small management team that also includes Joel and Avram Glazer and chief financial officer Cliff Baty.

Ineos’ biggest issue may be getting the Glazers to make decisions more quickly and consistently, something that has been elusive thus far.