The only thing about MU that is about to happen is a large-scale protest by the fans, while everything else, from leadership positions, new signings, to future vision, remains as uncertain as ever.
On Tuesday morning local time, a large number of angry MU fans gathered at the main store in Old Trafford and protested just before the unveiling of the 2023/24 jersey collection. This was an inevitable consequence as fans have lost patience after 8 months of ongoing ownership change without any results.
Announcements were made ready to seek alternative investors for MU since November last year, but to this day, the Glazer family still remains in charge of the Red Devils. Keep in mind that the new season will kick off in 7 weeks, and MU's preparation process is still at a complete standstill.
This is most evident in their transfer efficiency. On the outbound side, MU has only managed to offload players who were not of much interest, such as Axel Tuanzebe, Phil Jones, and Zidaen Iqbal. Meanwhile, on the inbound side, it remains blank.
There are too many questions raised, but no one can provide answers, not even Ten Hag himself. What will happen to De Gea's future? Will MU sign a new goalkeeper? Will Harry Maguire leave or stay? Which new midfielders will join Old Trafford? Won't the Red Devils sign any forwards?
In terms of philosophy and recruitment criteria, Ten Hag and his team have already completed their work. But that's all theory, and it's far from reality due to the lack of support from the club's top management. With a return to the Champions League, MU's transfer budget should have increased. However, according to several reports, it will decrease significantly compared to the £220 million Ten Hag spent last summer, as MU needs to balance their books and avoid breaching financial fair play regulations.
Transferring the responsibility of economic calculations to someone solely focused on football like Ten Hag truly puts the Dutch coach in a difficult position. Turning to the other side of the city, Ten Hag will surely envy Pep Guardiola as Manchester City prepares to splurge on both Declan Rice and Josko Gvardiol. Pep only sets the targets, and the City hierarchy takes care of the rest. It's a simple, closed, and efficient process—something MU always lacks, appearing chaotic, disorganized, and inconsistent.
In reality, MU has been "unlucky" when it comes to Mason Mount, as Chelsea was too "resolute." If they could successfully recruit Mount after 3 attempts, the Red Devils' transfer situation would be slightly brighter, rather than resembling a city in a power outage like this. Without securing those initial building blocks like Mount, MU's subsequent steps are all stagnant. Ten Hag doesn't know whether he will have to replace Mount with a more expensive target (Moises Caicedo) or a cheaper one (Rabiot).
Many sources say that Ten Hag has to do the math himself, only being provided with a certain amount of money, while the rest will come from reinvesting the proceeds from player sales. But where can Ten Hag find buyers for surplus players like Alex Telles and Eric Bailly, who have only one year left on their contracts? Additionally, Maguire, Fred, Donny van de Beek, Anthony Martial, Brandon Williams, Anthony Elanga, and Dean Henderson are all in a waiting state. Overall, everyone is exhausted due to MU's lack of decisiveness. A terrible summer is gradually unfolding at Old Trafford if a positive "downpour" doesn't arrive in the coming days.
