Hey football fans! 🥳 Manchester United's CEO, Omar Berrada, has a message for all of us: the club is playing it smart on the transfer market! 💡
\"We were able to do it in a financially sustainable way,\" Berrada shared. \"We were quite disciplined about the valuations we were giving to the players who were going to come in. We stuck to those valuations. I think Dan and the team did a fantastic job in the negotiations process.\"
Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth both joined United this year, bringing fresh perspectives to the team's strategy. 🧐 Before joining United, Berrada held key roles at Manchester City, including director of partnership sales and chief football operations officer.
Berrada emphasized the importance of making wise investments: \"If you make a mistake and if you overspend or get a player who can cost you too much, it can set you back. Which is why you need to be able to take those decisions and make the right ones consistently over time to be in a position to win consistently.\" 🏆
United has faced criticism in the past for big spending without big results. Despite significant investments—€243.28 million in 2022-23 and €202.3 million in 2023-24—the club finished third and eighth in those seasons, respectively. 🤔
Ashworth added, \"You have to be quite brave and make decisions that maybe you don't want to make. But you can't have a bloated squad, and you're also dealing with players that ultimately want to play football. So you want to make sure that the squad is lean, but you have enough depth.\" ⚖️
This summer, United spent €214.5 million to bring in five new players. While they sent Jadon Sancho to Chelsea on loan, they're still navigating challenges with players like Casemiro and his hefty contract. 💸
With United currently sitting in 14th place after losing two of their first three games, fans are hoping that these strategic decisions will pay off soon. 🤞❤️
Reference(s):
Manchester United won't overpay for transfers, says club CEO
cgtn.com
