Man Utd 'to limit January transfer budget' after expensive summer

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Man Utd 'to limit January transfer budget' after expensive summer

Manchester United are expected to limit the transfer budget on offer to Erik ten Hag in January amid concerns they spent more than anticipated during the summer.

United spent nearly £200m during Ten Hag's first transfer window to recruit Casemiro, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Antony and Martin Dubravka, while the biggest fee they brought in through sales was Andreas Pereira's £10m move to Fulham.

Club officials were keen to back Ten Hag, who recently admitted that he wanted United to start 'looking to the January window' to continue signing new players to build the team to his vision, but The Athletic do not expect that to happen.

With funds no longer the near-unlimited resource that they once were, United had only planned to spend around £100m during Ten Hag's first window but evidently blew that budget out of the water late in the summer.

Owner Joel Glazer, chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough are all understood to be planning ahead for the summer of 2023, viewing that window as the next real opportunity to bolster the squad.

That being said, United would allow Ten Hag to reinvest any money raised from player sales. There are a number of players who are already facing uncertain futures under the boss, including the likes of Phil Jones, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Brandon Williams, Donny van de Beek and Cristiano Ronaldo.

United are not known for their January business and have rarely been major players in the winter window. The last senior player to join midway through the season was Bruno Fernandes in 2020, who was the first significant addition since Alexis Sanchez in 2018.