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Manchester United's dreadful performances on the pitch continue to make headlines, but it's the club's appalling track record in the transfer market that has compounded their struggles—as statistically demonstrated by a new study.
The Red Devils have made numerous costly and high-profile blunders in player recruitment, particularly in recent years, with the likes of Jadon Sancho, Rasmus Højlund, André Onana, Mason Mount and Antony all failing to justify their hefty price tags after joining the club.
Just how poorly their money has been spent has now been laid bare by the CIES Football Observatory, which recently assessed clubs around the globe based on the "appreciation or depreciation in value of non-academy players signed over the past five years."
For players who have since left the club, the final figure weighs the fee paid against the fee received. For those still on the books, the original transfer fee is compared against their current market value.
Only clubs whose combined spending and income surpasses $56 million since 2022 were included in the analysis, with add-ons factored in regardless of whether they have been settled.
Man Utd Rank As Europe's Most Wasteful Spenders
According to the study, United officially stand as the European club that has hemorrhaged the most money on signings over the past five years.
In total, they have squandered a staggering $452 million, with only Saudi Arabian powerhouse Al Hilal (-$560 million) having made more financially damaging transfer decisions.
Of that overall figure, $208 million has been lost on players who have already departed on permanent deals—including the aforementioned Sancho, Højlund and Antony—while $244.5 million has been shed on those still at Old Trafford.
Not only is this an enormous amount of money squandered, but it also dwarfs the losses recorded by any other European club.
Tottenham Hotspur are United's nearest European counterpart in terms of player value depreciation, with the Lilywhites having lost a comparatively restrained $210 million—less than half of United's total.
To make matters worse, local rivals Manchester City rank fifth among clubs that have gained value, having accumulated just under $500 million over the same period. They sit behind only Eintracht Frankfurt (+$588 million), Real Madrid (+$587 million), Paris Saint-Germain (+$547 million) and Benfica (+$545 million).
Despite their enormous expenditure since BlueCo assumed ownership, Chelsea boast a positive value of $200 million. Arsenal (+$123 million) and, to a lesser degree, Liverpool (+$14.5 million) have also seen their transfer investments appreciate overall.
Red Devils Refuse to Learn Their Lesson
Despite repeatedly hemorrhaging vast sums on expensive recruits, United have chosen not to fundamentally overhaul their transfer strategy. While their spending has been somewhat more measured over the past two seasons, they still invested over $400 million in new signings—none of whom, aside from the cost-efficient Senne Lammens, have yet to justify their fees.
United's approach of strengthening one area of the squad at a time has also taken a toll on the team's results and, consequently, the overall value of their current roster.
They targeted the attack by bringing in Benjamin Šeško, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha in 2025, before reinforcing midfield the previous summer with the arrivals of Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. Defensive reinforcements are presumably earmarked for next year.
This piecemeal transfer strategy has proven damaging on the pitch. United could realistically have added a left back, center back, left winger and striker to their squad last summer, but instead chose to concentrate exclusively on midfield—setting aside the free transfer acquisition of backup goalkeeper Karl Darlow.
As long as they continue to stumble from one transfer window to the next, they will struggle to shed the label of Europe's most inept recruiters.