Manchester United need to act quickly and decisively in the transfer market to remove the ‘negativity’ surrounding the club, according to journalist Mark Ogden.
While plenty of their rivals have wrapped up deals this summer already, the Red Devils are still yet to finalise any new signings since the window opened less than two weeks ago.
The clock is ticking towards the start of pre-season, where new boss Erik ten Hag will be hoping that he can have some new players to work with as he embarks on a difficult journey to drag the club back to where they belong in and amongst the Premier League summit.
United have been heavily linked with a number of players, including Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, Ajax pair Antony and Lisandro Martinez, as well as free agent Christian Eriksen.
De Jong appears to be the club’s main priority, although the club are struggling to reach an agreement with Barcelona.
And journalist Ogden, speaking on ESPN FC, has urged the club to get a move on to avoid upsetting the Old Trafford faithful.
He said: “United are in for three or four players right now.
“They need to get one over the line because it looks like we’re getting to the stage where we’re having another summer of sagas at Man United, when sometimes, you just have to act swiftly and get a deal done – even if it means paying a bit more than they want to pay, because that actual overpaying four, five, six million pounds would just get rid of a lot of the negativity right now.
“And maybe that is a good investment at this point in time.”
TIF Thoughts on Ogden’s comments…
It looks as if it’s going to be another summer of unrest for Manchester United fans as the club engross themselves in yet more transfer sagas with their top targets.
Just as they did with Jadon Sancho last year, the club are again struggling to swiftly agree a fee for Dutch midfielder De Jong, and it is reportedly the constraints in this potential deal that is holding up any other moves that the club have lined up this summer.
Ogden is right, United need to act swiftly in order to acquire the players Ten Hag wants.
With their closest rivals already making moves in the market, such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, Ten Hag may well find his plans at the start of the campaign in August taking a huge hit.
Gary Neville recently admitted that he is worried that United are struggling to get business done early in the transfer window, and with Ten Hag set to report for pre-season in just five days’ time, the club seriously need to get a move on if they are to appease the fans.