MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United are set to reduce their activity in the transfer market in upcoming windows, one of the club’s senior executives said on Thursday, following an overhaul of the squad after the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag.
United were one of the biggest spenders in Europe in the summer transfer window, with an outlay approaching $250 million on players including Antony, Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez.
The record 20-time English champions reported a net loss of 115.5 million pounds ($130 million) for the 2021-22 season, with the net debt under their unpopular owners — Glazer family — rising 95.4 million pounds ($107.5 million) to 514.9 million pounds ($580 million). That’s an increase of 22 percent.
The influx of new players is starting to take effect, with United winning their last four English Premier League games after opening with back-to-back losses that put Ten Hag under some pressure.
“We will continue to support Erik in ensuring he has players with the right quality and characters to achieve success, while ensuring that investment remains consistent with our commitment to financial sustainability,” John Murtough, United’s football director, said on a call to investors.
“Overall, we are ahead of schedule in our recruitment plans as envisaged at the start of the summer, and we do not anticipate the same level of activity in future windows.”
United chief financial officer Cliff Baty said the club’s financial results were adversely affected by the absence of a summer tour in July 2021 and the impact of the weakening of the pound on some non-cash finance costs.
United’s revenues rose by 18 percent, to 583 million pounds ($657 million). Baty said the club expects to have revenues of 580-600 million pounds ($655-677 million) for the next financial year despite the team being in the Europa League this season and not the more lucrative Champions League.
Following the signings in 2021 of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, United’s wage bill rose by 19.1 percent to 384.2 million pounds ($433.6 million) — the highest in the Premier League according to the latest figures released by clubs.
Payoffs to managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was fired in November, and Ralf Rangnick, who replaced Solskjaer on an interim basis and then did not take up a two-year consultancy role at the end of the season, and their associated coaching staff contributed to the cost of “exceptional items” amounting to 24.7 million pounds ($27.9 million).
Man United to reduce spending in upcoming transfer windows
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Man United to reduce spending in upcoming transfer windows
- United were one of the biggest spenders in Europe in the summer transfer window, with an outlay approaching $250 million on players
- The influx of new players is starting to take effect, with United winning their last four English Premier League games
Inter continue Scudetto march after Champions League humbling
- Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan bounced back from Champions League elimination with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Genoa which continued their march toward the Serie A title.
Federico Dimarco’s brilliant volley just after the half-hour mark and Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half penalty were enough for Inter to extend their already huge lead over AC Milan at the top of the table to 13 points.
Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto.
Inter, whose fans unloaded a collection of anti-Milan chants in anticipation of the derby, have dropped just two points in 15 league matches and have been a cut above the rest in Italy’s top flight this season.
Their domestic dominance comes in stark contrast to the humiliating manner in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.
A 5-2 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian minnows cast doubts over not just the quality of Cristian Chivu’s team but of Italian football as a whole.
There was plenty of quality in Dimarco’s opener however, the Italy full-back beautifully placing a first-time finish from a tight angle after exchanging passes with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Little else happened in a humdrum encounter until Alex Amorim handled a cross from Luis Henrique, whose shot had been tipped onto the post just moments before.
Calhanoglu calmly stroked home the spot-kick on his return to action following niggling muscle problems which have caused him issues since before Christmas, sealing the points for Inter.
Big Rom back
Romelu Lukaku kept Napoli on course for a Champions League spot with a last-gasp winner in the champions’ 2-1 victory over rock-bottom Verona, the Belgium forward’s first goal of the season.
Lukaku forced home Giovane’s cross to snatch the win for third-placed Napoli with the last kick of the game at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Napoli had looked like dropping points in northern Italy when Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro levelled Rasmus Hojlund’s early opener in the 65th minute.
But Lukaku, who only played his first game of the season in late January, gave Napoli a huge win with both Como and Atalanta pushing for a top-four placing.
“I was a dead player before coming here,” said Lukaku to DAZN.
“This season has been difficult, but we’ve got to aim high.”
Napoli’s title defense is all but over as they trail Inter by 14 points after an injury-ravaged season.
Napoli were missing key midfielders Scott McTominay, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre-Frank Anguissa on Saturday, as well as captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Verona, under interim coach Paolo Sammarco following the sacking of Paolo Zanetti earlier this month, are 10 points from safety after a 12th straight match without a win.
Como, who face Inter in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday, strolled to 3-1 victory over strugglers Lecce to continue their push for a first-ever qualification for European football.
Cesc Fabregas’s team are two points behind Roma, in fourth and Juventus’ opponents on Sunday, and five behind Napoli.
Como are also two points ahead of sixth-placed Juve who face Roma trying to stay in touch with the Champions League places after being eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition by Galatasaray on Wednesday.
