Manchester United have spent vast sums of money in recent history and it’s fair to say that they’ve not always been the best negotiators.
While other top clubs have a reputation for driving a hard bargain, United are almost the opposite and have been guilty of overpaying for players in recent years.
We’ve found 10 examples of United being the worst negotiators in football history.
Bryan Mbeumo
The Red Devils have been haggling with Brentford since the start of June, only to end up paying more than what the Bees originally asked for.
After United had their first two bids rejected, Brentford cheekily upped their original valuation of Mbeumo from £65million to £70million.
While United originally seemed apprehensive to match that figure, they’ve since had their third bid accepted, which is worth a total of £71million including add-ons.
Brentford have been rewarded for sticking to their guns, while United have ultimately wasted the last few weeks of the transfer window, having given Brentford more than what they originally wanted.
Harry Maguire
In a similar vein to the Mbeumo saga, United fell into the same trap when negotiating with Leicester back in 2019.
After having their first two bids rejected, worth £60million and £70million, United caved into the Foxes’ demands and paid a whopping £80million for the England international.
It’s safe to say that Maguire has had his ups and downs in a United shirt, but he’s never been able to justify his inflated transfer fee.
Marouane Fellaini
Given expectations upon his arrival, Fellaini ended up being a solid signing for United.
However, given the player’s circumstances at the time, they definitely ended up overpaying for his signature.
The Belgian midfielder had a £23.5million release clause in his contract with Everton, which expired at the end of July 2013.
United passed up the opportunity to sign him at that price, before then signing him a month later for an inflated £27.5million fee.
Mason Mount
Despite only having one year remaining on his contract at Chelsea in 2023, the club still drove a hard bargain when negotiating with United.
After the Red Devils had their third bid of £55million rejected by Chelsea, they warned that they’d walk away from the deal.
That ultimately didn’t happen, as they soon upped their offer to a total package of £60million, which was finally accepted by Chelsea.
Given Mount’s injury record in recent seasons, United probably wish that they had walked away after their third bid was rejected.
Phil Jones
Jones proved to be a good pickup from Blackburn Rovers in 2011, establishing himself as a solid first-team player.
However, United’s lackadaisical negotiation skills came into effect in 2019, when they handed him a new four-year contract, worth £75,000 per week.
By this point in his career, it was clear that injuries had started to hamper his game and after penning the new deal, he barely played for the club again.
During his last four seasons at the club, Jones made just six appearances in the Premier League, all while earning £3.9million each year.
Whose idea was it to give him a four-year contract?
Alexis Sanchez
Speaking of handing out lucrative contracts, United dropped the ball when signing Sanchez in 2018.
The deal with Arsenal saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan head in the opposite direction, but United’s major mistake was blowing their wage structure out of the water.
Before the Sanchez signing, Paul Pogba was the highest earner at the club, taking home a reported £290,000 per week at the time.
Sanchez was then handed a basic weekly salary of £350,000, which had the potential to rise to £560,000 per week with image rights, bonuses and other add-ons.
For context, he was only earning around £140,000 per week while playing for Arsenal.
The Chilean only ended up playing 45 games for the club and given some of the mammoth contracts they’ve handed out since, their wage bill has arguably never recovered from 2018.
Donny van de Beek
United pushed the boat out to sign Van de Beek in 2020, only to immediately realise that he didn’t suit their style of play whatsoever.
After joining from Ajax in a deal worth up to £40million, the midfielder made six Premier League stars for United during a four-year stint, before then being sold for a minimal fee to Girona.
From pretty much every perspective, it was a disastrous signing.
Paul Pogba
Pogba’s history with United is complex and the history books won’t reflect kindly on how the club dealt with him over the years.
He was allowed to leave on a free transfer in 2012, re-joined four years later for £89million before leaving on a free transfer for the second time in 2022.
The Frenchman certainly had his moments in a United shirt, but financially, United didn’t cover themselves in glory with that deal.
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Memphis Depay
The Dutch forward joined United from PSV in 2015 for a fee of £25million. At the time, it seemed like a great deal, but things quickly went pear-shaped for the Netherlands international.
After an underwhelming spell in Manchester, United sold Depay for a loss to Lyon in 2016, only for the winger to immediately rediscover his mojo in France.
He’s since had stints with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and has continued to be a consistent performer on the international stage. It’s a shame that United fans never got to see the best of him.
Radamel Falcao
United paid a £6million loan fee for Falcao in 2014, along with covering his mammoth £265,000 weekly wage.
Having recently come back from a big injury, the Colombian looked like a shadow of his former self while playing for United and only scored four goals in 29 appearances.
United did have the option to sign him permanently for £43.5million, but even they weren’t foolish enough to pay that.
In fairness to Falcao, he did eventually put his injuries behind him and rediscovered his scoring touch during his last three seasons with Monaco, but United fans never saw that version of him at Old Trafford.
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