da brwin： Erik ten Hag has overseen a huge improvement on the pitch, but the club still look clumsy when it comes to agreeing transfer fees and squad planning

da esoccer bet： Last summer, Manchester City made more money from transfers than Manchester United have over the last decade. Let that sink in for a moment. City banked £143 million ($183m) from the sales of Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus among others, allowing them to turn a profit despite signing Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips for a combined £95m ($121m).

On the other side of Manchester, United made a grand total of £11m ($14m), most of which came from the sale of Andreas Pereira to Fulham. In the same summer, they splashed out £208m ($266m), spending £85m ($109m) alone on Antony.

Pereira ended the season with 10 goal contributions and was one of Fulham's most influential players in an impressive first season back in the top flight. Antony, meanwhile, contributed to just six goals for United in the Premier League, scoring just once between November and May and not providing an assist until April. He ended the season with as many assists in the Premier League for United as in the Eredivisie for Ajax.

It might seem opportunistic to compare the prices of two players of different ages, positions and career paths, but, given how they performed last season, it seems fair to conclude that United undersold Pereira and vastly overpaid for Antony.

While every club makes mistakes in the transfer market and deals can only be judged with the benefit of hindsight, United have been made to look like very bad negotiators in the transfer market, when it comes to both buying and selling players. There is little sign of an improvement in how they do deals either, having recently agreed to pay up to £60m ($51m) for Mason Mount despite him being in the last year of his contract with Chelsea, while they look like woeful operators having withdrawn their offer of a new contract for David de Gea after the Spaniard had agreed to the terms, leading to him departing the club in farcical circumstances.

And so as United look to do deals with Inter for Andre Onana, Atalanta for Rasmus Hojlund and other players in a bid to boost Erik ten Hag's squad for the coming season, the clubs on the other side of the negotiating table know that they can take the Red Devils for a ride.

GettyPaying through the nose for Antony

One of the reasons why United tend to overpay for players is that they often try to do one deal at a time and become fixated on one target, stopping at nothing until they get their man. As a result, they pay through the nose for the player.

Take last summer's bid to sign Antony from Ajax. The Dutch giants did not want to sell the Brazil winger and could see that United were desperate to land him. Ajax's then-chief executive Edwin van der Sar, the former United goalkeeper, admitted that Ajax had all the negotiating power.

He told : "We would have liked to keep him here one year longer, there was not a dire need to sell him, we had money in the bank. But the fee got so high. We challenged United to go as far as possible."

United had stated at the start of the summer that they would not pay any more than £60m ($51m) for Antony. They ended up paying £85m ($109m), leaving the club with no money in the January transfer window. While Liverpool signed Cody Gakpo, who was a United target, Ten Hag could only sign Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer on loan, having lost Cristiano Ronaldo in November.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesOutbidding City for Maguire

It was a similar story with Harry Maguire. The England centre-back was Jose Mourinho's No.1 target in 2018 after an excellent World Cup, and he was available for £60m ($51m), but United were not willing to back the Portuguese manager.

The following summer, after Maguire's stock had risen even higher, City also expressed interest in the defender, leading Leicester to demand £100m for him. City drew the line at £70m, so United agreed a price of £80m.

Four years on, and Maguire is fifth in the pecking order of United centre-backs, starting only eight Premier League matches last season and even losing his place in some games to left-back Luke Shaw.

While he suited the style of football that Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to play and is still a key player for England manager Gareth Southgate, Maguire struggles in possession and with the higher defensive line Ten Hag favours.

United would be willing to sell Maguire this summer, but have reportedly set a £50m price tag. That is likely to put potential suitors off and could lead to his real price dropping even further as he enters the final two years of his contract. In trying to get the best price for Maguire could instead lead United into getting a worse one in the long term.

GettyNeed City's courage to walk away

One thing that sets City apart from United in negotiations is their willingness to walk away from a deal. Last summer they were interested in Marc Cucurella from Brighton, but cooled their interest when they were quoted £45m. They opted to bring in Sergio Gomez from Borussia Dortmund instead, paying just £15m. Cucurella, meanwhile, moved to Chelsea for £55m ($70m) and had a terrible debut season. Gomez did not do well for City either, playing just 340 minutes of Premier League football and starting two games, but by shifting their focus, City demonstrated they would not be fleeced.

Sometimes, they simply sign players in different positions. After pulling out of the Maguire deal in 2019, City decided they did not need a new centre-back after all, promoting Eric Garcia from the academy and spending their money on Rodri (£59m) and Joao Cancelo (£55m) instead.

City also turned away from deals for Kalidou Koulibaly and Jorginho after baulking at the price, and did the same with Declan Rice this summer after West Ham rejected their bid of £90m, leaving Arsenal to snap up the England midfielder instead.

GettyPaying what Chelsea wanted for Mount

United had the opportunity to squeeze a better deal out of Chelsea for Mount as the midfielder was entering the final year of his contract with his boyhood club and would be available for free in July 2024. That explains their opening bid of £40m, which was rejected by Chelsea.

United had the added advantage of Chelsea needing to sell Mount before June 30, the end of the financial year, to enhance their accounts for the season and comply with the Premier League's rules on sustainable spending.

But United finally agreed to paying £55m up front plus an additional £5m in bonuses related to appearances and success. It was a huge fee for a player who had fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge due to his contractual situation and had scored only three goals last season.

City, ever the wily negotiators, signed Mateo Kovacic, who was also out of contract with Chelsea in 2024, for only £25m.