Manchester United have wasted a lot of money in recent seasons, and the Erik ten Hag era was no different.
La Liga striker Robert Lewandowski recently hit out at Premier League clubs for buying strikers for staggering fees with limited goal records.
“In the Premier League, they pay a lot. You see players bought for huge sums without even having one strong season. A young player scores ten goals in six months and suddenly a club spends 60 or 70 million,” he told The Times.
“Before, you had to achieve something first. Now, you never know if the price they pay truly reflects the quality they are getting.”
Manchester United’s deal for Rasmus Hojlund fits the bill for Lewandowski’s comments, arguably Benjamin Sesko too, while Newcastle’s expensive move for Nico Woltemade and Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike deals show that it is an issue not just limited to the Red Devils.
The expense goes beyond strikers, and is a symptom of the Premier League’s status as the richest league in the world, where money is thrown around, and not always particularly efficiently.
Clubs in other European leagues cannot compete with the Premier League financially, and are forced to be more creative.
La Liga president proud of Antony deal
La Liga has taken a step back from 15 years ago, when Real Madrid would outspend English clubs, buying Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for £80 million, still a club record sale for the Red Devils.
The Spanish league has stricter financial rules that attempt to limit the previous dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona at the expense of all the other teams in the division.
And in contrast to the extravagant Premier League spending, La Liga clubs are forced to shop around for bargains.
La Liga president Javier Tebas believes that Real Betis’ move for Antony is a great example of Spanish clubs making prudent deals.
Tebas spoke at Spain’s Business Sport Forum, quoted via El Desmarque: “We have a significant deficit in Spanish football, and that’s hospitality seating in stadiums.
“Look at the number of seats in the Premier League, 11.18%, and the Bundesliga, 6.2%. That’s around 600 million euros less in revenue than the Premier League. We’re working with the clubs on that.”
This is why he believes clever dealing and market opportunities are vital for the clubs.
“We have to keep an eye on the Premier League teams that are going to La Liga. Antony is an example.
“He joined Manchester United for 100 million and now he’s signed for Real Betis for 20 million.”
Tebas backs Lewandowski
Tebas referred back to Robert Lewandowski’s comments about the high-risk deals being made by English clubs.
“This is what’s happening in the Premier League, and Lewandowski said it recently. Now, they’re paying millions for young players who have scored six goals in a season and then fail to show their worth.”
Erik ten Hag pursued the deal for Antony during his first summer at Manchester United, where he became the club’s second most expensive signing of all time behind Paul Pogba.
Antony had a reasonable first season but really struggled in his second year at the club, and he scored only 12 goals in 96 appearances.
United loaned Antony to Betis at the end of last season, and after a long wait in the transfer window, he returned to the Spanish side.
Manchester United secured a 50 per cent sell-on clause as part of the sale, potentially offsetting some of the huge loss made on the former Ajax winger.
