Man Utd’s £100m transfer mystery: Why have they never crossed the line?

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Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Manchester United are the sole member of the Premier League’s ‘Big 6’ to never have bought a player above £100 million – but why is it that a side that has won more titles since 1992/93 than any other club has not hit this figure yet?

The biggest signing ever made by the Red Devils came back in the summer of 2016, when they signed Paul Pogba from Juventus for £89m.

United have naturally conducted other big deals, notably signing Harry Maguire for £80m in a move that was the biggest for a defender at the time, but there is no doubt that they lag their rivals in terms of big spending.

The case of Elliot Anderson underlines this. United had earmarked the then-Nottingham Forest player as their leading transfer target for the summer but were comprehensively outmuscled financially for him by Manchester City.

So why have United been so frugal, and are they in position to break the £100m barrier when the transfer market reopens in 2027?

Why haven’t Man Utd spent £100m on a single player?

Sky Sports expert Danyal Khan believes the £100m figure is irrelevant.

“I actually think it's redundant to use that figure of £100m. If you look at appreciation,” he said. “Paul Pogba, if you were to sign him now from Juventus, like United did, that would probably be well over £100m. The question is, can Man Utd spend money on Elliot Anderson?

“Not necessarily to do with the figure but more whether they are in the market for these top midfielders. This summer, Man Utd's priority was to sign three midfield players. It's fair to say the third midfielder could have been a left-back.

“They were looking at Lewis Hall and monitoring Myles Lewis-Skelly at Arsenal.

“It was quite clear that both of those players were not for sale. They then directed their attention back to midfield to add Carlos Baleba to Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.

“I don't think there is a reluctance to spend big, having spoken to people in and around the club. But it was quite clear that this summer they needed to increase the squad size to compete in different competitions.”

Rather than focusing on who’s coming through the door at Old Trafford, United’s problem is going the other way.

Khan added: “You also can't stress this enough: Man Utd don't sell well enough.

“Their most senior sales were Toby Collyer and Radek Vitek, who hadn't played a senior game. “

United have become frugal spenders

Despite this argument, it’s notable that United haven’t signed a player for more than £70m since the desperation signing of Antony at the end of the summer transfer window of 2022. By modern standards, this is not a particularly big deal – there were 11 such transfers conducted at above this figure during this summer, with Tottenham signing three players above this figure.

However, huge transfer fees do not guarantee success. Man Utd’s transfer policy instead seems influenced by that of double Champions League winners PSG, whose move into signing players around the €60-80m bracket has helped them to become European champions twice.

For fans who feel that the Red Devils cannot compete with their rivals in the transfer market, this should offer some assurance that spending smart is more important than spending big.