Roy Keane believes that Manchester United’s transfer dealings are the key reason for their lack of success in recent years.
Of the current squad, Antony, Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Andre Onana, Sofyan Amrabat and perhaps others have all failed to deliver value for money, with all of them commanding hefty transfer fees.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe appears keen to bring in Newcastle United’s transfer expert, Dan Ashworth, to overhaul player recruitment, and for Keane, that could address a huge failing.
United were recently judged to have had the most expensive squad ever assembled, but while transfer outlay and wages spent typically correlate with results on the pitch, Old Trafford has often been a chaotic place.
Despite cycling through a number of managers, the Glazers have yet to find a manager or a team that could deliver either the Premier League title or the Champions League.
While the club have won domestic cups and the Europa League, they have failed to build on any of their brief successes, and current manager Erik ten Hag has the team sitting in sixth spot after a rare run of victories, but there is only a slim chance of a top-four finish, and there is speculation that Ratcliffe will change the manager this summer.
Keane told Sky Bet: “The role of a scout has changed massively, compared to back in our day, where you’d have a scout in the North-West, one in Scotland etc, but the money available now, there’s no surprise that the scouting network has changed.
“The way Brighton have done it with their recruitment, and Newcastle, recruitment is key. Manchester United have had many issues over the last few years, but recruitment is probably the number one thing they’ve got wrong.”
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