Why Man Utd won’t ‘get beyond the quarter-finals’ of UCL as INEOS hoped for a stronger start
Man Utd will struggle to go beyond the Champions League quarter-finals as they look to continue lowering their wage budget, according to a football finance expert.
The Red Devils had a terrible first half of last season under Ruben Amorim before they turned a corner under Michael Carrick in the second half of the campaign.
Man Utd ended the season finishing third in the Premier League and qualifying for the Champions League, while Carrick was given the head coach role on a permanent basis.
The Red Devils mainly invested in their midfield after the departure of Casemiro, with Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba all arriving over the summer.
There was some disappointment they hadn’t pushed the boat out more for a left-back and another attacker but Carrick insists he’s happy with his squad.
Man Utd have won one, lost one and drawn one of their first three Premier League matches this season, while they beat Sabah 4-0 in the Champions League on Thursday night.
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However, former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson insists they won’t get near to winning the Champions League with their current wage bill.
Borson told Football Insider: “United are operating a version of football austerity. And the strategy is to try and be the smartest guys around, limit the spending, and underspend if anything.
“They want to have the lowest wage bill of the big six, and that now includes Spurs, right? So United are targeting a wage bill below Spurs in terms of their budget.
“It’s unlikely to work. To win the Champions League, you’ve probably got to have a wage bill now of £400m.
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“It’ll be very difficult for them to kind of get beyond the quarter-finals. It’ll be difficult to come with that size of squad to compete all season. But that is the strategy.”
INEOS wanted Man Utd to make a better start
Football Insider insists that Man Utd ‘hoped for a stronger start’ under Carrick with the new head coach ‘facing pressure to deliver results after landing the full-time role’.
O’Rourke told Football Insider: “Yeah, when you manage a club like Manchester United, the expectations are huge and that’s no different for Michael Carrick.
“The expectation is that they should have more points on the board already. Obviously, they let two points slip through their fingers last week against Everton.
“There’s always pressure when you’re either playing or managing Manchester United and I’m sure Carrick will be frustrated himself not to get more points on the board already.
“But it’s a long season ahead and I’m sure we’ll see an improvement and an upturn in United’s fortunes sooner rather than later.”
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