Erik ten Hag is in line for an important summer at Manchester United (Image: Getty)
Manchester United "squandered" the opportunity to sign £263m worth of talent - including the likes of Jamal Musiala and Moises Caicedo. Success in the transfer window has long evaded the Red Devils since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 with Bruno Fernandes arguably the sole big-money success that's arrived at Old Trafford in over a decade.
Whether it be a bargain or an expensive purchase, the recruitment at United certainly leaves a lot to be desired and considering the mass changes that have been made upon Sir Jim Ratcliffe's part-ownership era has begun, the club will hope to be batting 1,000 this summer.
For a myriad of reasons in the past few years, United have missed out on some of Europe's brightest talents with a number of them directly competing against them in the Premier League.
Chelsea's Moises Caicedo was closely monitored by the club by the beginning of the January transfer window in 2021, according to The Athletic. With a measly £1.5million release clause in his contract at boyhood club Independiente del Valle, the figure was not expected to be a stumbling block in a potential deal was not seen as an obstacle.
However, a deal never materialised with several agents involved complicating the move with negotiations becoming so muddled that talks with one party saw the Premier League giants presented with a version of the Ecuadorian's contract where the original release clause had somehow doubled to £3.1million.
The club finally walked away from the deal, leaving Brighton alone to scoop up the midfielder and later make a profit of over £100m after selling him to the Blues last year.
Musiala spent eight years in Chelsea's academy before departing for Bayern Munich (Image: Getty)
Pedro Neto
The dynamic Portuguese winger looked set to follow in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani in making the move to Manchester when the then-Braga academy startlet, 17, was invited to Carrington in 2017 and participated in an academy match at Leigh Sports Village.
A training compensation fee was the only thing that stood in the way of United signing Neto with recruitment staff pushing for the transfer to happen but after waiting several weeks to put forth an offer, Neto had already signed a new deal with Braga before joining Serie A side Lazio on a two-year loan with an obligation to buy, alongside Bruno Jordao.
Jamal Musiala
Possibly the most rued missed move in recent years in Manchester, the club were offered the chance to take the German superstar on trial in March 2018 when he was 15 years old. The then-Chelsea academy star was on the verge of an exit from the Blues and was regarded as the best player at a Germany training camp by United youth scout Andreas Herrmann.
He also impressed during his time representing England Under-16s alongside Jude Bellingham in a game against Croatia but complications with the deal rendered United out of the race who decided attempting to sign Musiala would prove to be too risky.
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Benjamin Sesko
The Slovenian superstar linked with a move to Arsenal could have already been donning the famous red strip of United when they sanctioned a bid of £850,000, despite Red Bull Salzburg offering £1.6million for his services. A revised offer by United rose to just £950,000 with a third bid levelling off at just over £1million which wasn't enough for boyhood club Domzale to accept.
Stefan Bajcetic
The Liverpool midfielder was inches away from a move to their biggest rivals back in 2020 when United had agreed a deal for Bajectic with Celta Vigo worth £210,000. However, talks took a turn when football negotiations manager Sam Barnett contacted the Spaniard's father Srdjan and asked whether they could pull Bajcetic out of the La Liga side.
The move would have saved United money, meaning they'd only have to pay £85,000 in training compensation but the request was turned down by Bajectic's father who not only played the club but was an employee. Liverpool clinched a deal that December and is set for a return to the first team next season after struggles with injury.
