Manchester United’s summer signings of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane take their reported spending since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 to over £1billion.
The Red Devils have not won the Premier League crown since Ferguson stepped down eight years ago, despite the best efforts of David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and current incumbent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the players who have joined United since 2013 and how much each boss has shelled out in an attempt to return the club to the top.
David Moyes – £64.6million
David Moyes lasted less than one season after replacing Sir Alex Ferguson (Peter Byrne/PA)
2013-14 (£64.6m)
Marouane Fellaini – £27.5m Juan Mata – £37.1m
Hand-selected by Ferguson to take over after his retirement, Moyes immediately returned to former club Everton to sign Maroune Fellaini while Juan Mata joined in January, just four months before Moyes was sacked. Fellaini never won over the United fanbase but Mata remains at the club today having just signed a new deal.
Louis Van Gaal – £258.6m
Louis van Gaal won the FA Cup during his two-year stint in the Old Trafford hot seat (Martin Rickett/PA)
2014-15 (£170.5m)
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Ander Herrera – £29m Luke Shaw – £27m Marcos Rojo – £16m Angel Di Maria – £59.7m Daley Blind – £13.8m Memphis Depay – £25m
Dutchman Van Gaal would be the next permanent United boss and his first summer in charge was a busy one. There were expensive flops in the shape of Angel Di Maria and Memphis Depay but Luke Shaw has now firmly established himself for club and country.
2015-16 (£88.1m)
Matteo Darmian – £12.7m Bastian Schweinsteiger – £14.4m Morgan Schneiderlin – £25m Anthony Martial – £36m
A second summer window saw United and Van Gaal spend again but only the late acquisition of Anthony Martial could be quantified as a success. Van Gaal would be sacked at the end of the season despite delivering the FA Cup with victory over Crystal Palace.
Jose Mourinho – £363.8m
Jose Mourinho was unable to bring the Premier League title back to Manchester United (Martin Rickett/PA)
2016-17 (£145.3m)
Eric Bailly – £30m Henrikh Mkhitaryan – £26m Paul Pogba – £89.3m
Former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho was next in the United dugout and he made three marquee signings, including the re-signing of France midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus. Injuries have hit Eric Bailly’s United career while Henrikh Mkhitaryan would move to Arsenal in a swap deal for Alexis Sanchez in another move which did not work for either player.
After winning an EFL Cup and Europa League double, Mourinho again went shopping with a large investment on Everton striker Romelu Lukaku not yielding the desired results. Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic played their part in helping United to finish second and the pair remain at the club.
2018-19 (£72.5m)
Diogo Dalot – £19m Fred – £52m Lee Grant – £1.5m
Mourinho would not see out the 2018/19 season after a dismal run of results saw him sacked in December, replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Before then he had gone into the transfer market to sign young full-back Diogo Dalot and experienced goalkeeper Lee Grant as well as spending over £50million on Brazil midfielder Fred.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – £373.6m
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remains in charge of the Red Devils as they look to end their search for another Premier League title (Rafal Oleksiewicz/PA)
2018-19 (£65m)
Daniel James – £15m Aaron Wan-Bissaka – £50m
Solskjaer’s first summer saw the club add two young British players to their ranks as Daniel James arrived from Swansea and Aaron Wan-Bissaka joined from Crystal Palace. A distant third-place finish was the final result as Solskjaer bled a host of academy players alongside his more established names.
2019-20 (£127m)
Harry Maguire – £80m Bruno Fernandes – £47m
United would again end a season empty-handed despite two major additions as they finally prised England defender Harry Maguire away from Leicester. The January move for Bruno Fernandes would prove a masterstroke with the Portugal playmaker arguably the best signing of the post-Ferguson era.
2020-21 (£67.6m)
Donny Van De Beek – £35m Alex Telles – £13.6m Amad Traore – £19m
The big-name signing of last summer was Holland star Donny Van De Beek but he rarely featured in a frustrating first campaign in Manchester. Alex Telles would play second fiddle to Shaw while Amad Traore was one for the future as United finished second behind neighbours Manchester City.
2021-22 (£114m)
Jadon Sancho – £73m Raphael Varane – £41m
Jadon Sancho was a target 12 months ago and finally completed his move to United earlier this month having missed a penalty in England’s Euro 2020 final shoot-out defeat to Italy. Trophy-laden defender Raphael Varane is now set to join from Real Madrid as Solskjaer continues the quest to win his first trophy as United boss.
TOTAL SPENDING – £1.06billion
*reported fees used when official fee undisclosed
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