Revealed: The eye-watering money Man Utd are spending in title quest

Stefan Bienkowski

• 17 Sept 2021 14:01 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United may still be one of the biggest clubs in the world when it comes to the number of fans or Instagram followers they can lay claim to, but the English giants haven’t won a major trophy since they won the FA Cup in 2016.

Indeed, the Red Devils haven’t been able to call themselves the champions of England in nine long years and their last Champions League trophy came over 13 years ago.

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As such, the Old Trafford side seem to be spending a remarkable amount of money in a bid to climb back to the top of European football, under the guidance of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

So how much money have Man Utd spent in their attempts to regain the Premier League and Champions League titles?

How much have Man Utd spent on transfers?

Since Man Utd last one the Premier League title they have spent no less than £1.22 billion on signing players and bringing them to the club. In that same period they’ve raised £362 million from player sales, which means their net spend currently stands at around £855 million.

In that same period the only club across all of European football to have spent more money than the Old Trafford club are none other than their cross-city rivals Manchester City, who have a net spend of £919.25 million.

However, while Red Devil fans may point to Man City’s spending as justification for their need to spend big, it’s worth bearing in mind that Pep Guardiola’s side have only spent an extra £70 million over the course of the last seven seasons but have won four league titles in that period to Man Utd’s zero.

How much have Man Utd spent on wages?

Like transfers, Man Utd’s spending on transfers is entirely relevant to the clubs around them in the Premier League.

However, when we look at the club’s wage bill in isolation we can see just how aggressive the Old Trafford side have been in hoovering up some of the most expensive players in the world.

According to Kieran Maguire’s analysis, the club’s wage bill has almost doubled since their last Premier League win, from £181m per year in 2013 to £323m in 2021. And that figure is expected to increase by 20% in 2022.

That will likely come as no surprise to fans, who happily enjoy watching the likes of Harry Maguire, Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and now Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford almost every week. But when the eye-watering sums of money are written out on paper, it just shows how much the club have and continue to spend in their pursuit of silverware.