The end of the Glazer’s era of ownership may be around the corner with talks ongoing for the sale of the club to either Sir Jim Ratcliffe or Sheikh Hassim. The Man Utd fanbase have been calling for the Glazers to sell for several years due to poor management decisions, a lack of investment in infrastructure and the leveraged buyout undertaken to buy the club in the first place. However, it cannot be disputed that large sums have been invested in the playing squad and with that in mind, Last Word on Football looks at the biggest transfers of the current tenure and whether they have been successful.
Analysing Man Utd’s Five Biggest Signings of the Glazers Era
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1 – Paul Pogba
His career may have gone downhill recently, but the former Juventus midfielder made headlines in the summer of 2016 after re-joining Old Trafford for a then-world-record fee. This transfer sets the tone for most of the major transfers since the Glazers took over.
It is fair to say that Pogba did not take the team to a new level as many expected, but he had a couple of excellent seasons and showed flashes of being the world’s best midfielder on occasion. The 2017-19 period was his best for the Red Devils and although he was one of the most gifted players of his generation, his trophy haul of a League Cup and a Europa League was less than impressive.
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This one has to go down as a miss, primarily due to the sheer star potential and promise the former France international failed to live up to. It could also be argued that he joined the club at the wrong time, without a good enough side around him to bring out the very best of his ability. The player’s attitude was brought into question on many occasions, including an infamous spat with former manager Jose Mourinho.
2 – Antony
The jury is still out on the biggest signing of the Erik ten Hag era. It may well be another case of off-the-field issues that stop the Brazil international from reaching his highest level, after an underwhelming first season which produced eight goals and three assists from 44 appearances.
The manager coached the winger at his former club Ajax and splashed a large transfer fee for his man in August 2022. There is a sense that Red Devils and the owners overpaid to get Ten Hag’s top target, despite him returning 46 goal involvements across 82 appearances.
The Sao Paulo graduate has found it difficult taking on full-backs at a higher level in the Premier League and his attributes seem very limited at times and predictable but at just 23 years old there is scope for improvement, however, it is still a long way to go to justify the mammoth transfer fee paid out to sign him.
3 – Harry Maguire
There was once a time when Maguire was one of the most coveted centre-backs with both Manchester clubs battling it out for the signing of one of England’s biggest World Cup stars. The 2018 edition of the tournament, where the Three Lions finished fourth, propelled the former Leicester defender into the spotlight.
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Former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made Maguire club captain in 2020 after the departure of Ashley Young and some believed he would end up captain of his country.
Fast forward to today and it has all been flipped on its head. After losing the club captaincy, Maguire now sees very limited game time and he is very much fifth-choice in his position. He has become the subject of ridicule by opposing fans and sometimes from the home fans inside Old Trafford and the best possible option for the 30-year-old is to leave the club to try and salvage his career as there is still a starting role available for him somewhere in the Premier League.
4 – Romelu Lukak
After four seasons of scoring double figures in the Premier League for Everton, Man Utd and the Glazers were convinced that he would be the perfect fit and spent another large sum to bring the former Chelsea striker to Old Trafford.
Not one of the above large signings of this era ended up being the right type of player for the club and this is a shining example of just that. Lukaku is a goalscorer and his record of 42 goals in 96 appearances is an impressive feat for most strikers but he did not suit the players around him or the style of football demanded by the club’s supporters.
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He took the blame for much of the team’s poor performances and runs during his time at the club so it would be difficult to call him a success but his figures indicate the consensus that he was a terrible signing to be wide of the mark. There may be a case to say that he is the most successful player on this list. It is the job of the strikers to get goals and Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer did that in his two seasons at United.
5 – Jadon Sancho
This was one of the longest-running transfer sagas in recent memory. It was the summer of 2021 when a deal was finally sealed, with the Red Devils refusing to make the England winger number one on this list as the biggest signing when they were quoted over £100 million from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2020.
Sancho, once of Manchester City, had made a name for himself as one of world football’s greatest prospects during his spell in the Bundesliga scoring 50 times for die Schwarzgelben.
There are very few who could have foreseen the struggles that the England winger would endure and after falling out with Ten Hag, his disappointing time at the Theatre of Dreams is likely coming to an end. It is needless to say the Glazers and club will take a hit on this one, with the player no longer worth anywhere near the type of sum paid out to acquire his services.
