"You've only built the foundations.." - Mark Goldbridge says Man Utd need to spend 'another £250m' this summer
Manchester United YouTuber Mark Goldbridge claimed Manchester United would need to spend another £250million this summer.
United have enjoyed a reasonably successful first campaign under Erik ten Hag.
The Old Trafford qualified for next season’s Champions League, claimed the Carabao Cup - their first silverware of any kind since 2017 - and have made it to the FA Cup final, which takes place on Saturday.
However, United were still some way off the quality and consistency of Premier League rivals Manchester City and Arsenal, and have been tipped to be active in the transfer market to close that gap.
While United will be looking for upgrades across the pitch, the club are particularly looking to sign a striker, with Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen having both been linked.
Goldbridge on United’s summer spend
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Goldbridge heaped praise on Ten Hag for his first season at United but added that the club would need to spend a further £250million just to compete with the teams fighting at the Premier League summit.
Goldbridge said: “If you are building a mansion, and you’ve only built the foundations, and you're asking for money for the second floor and the roof, what’s wrong with that?
“He didn’t spend £200million. Manchester United are notoriously bad at recruitment. Antony shouldn’t have cost £82million, [Lisandro] Martinez shouldn’t have cost £50million. That’s just bad negotiation.
“So you can’t pin that on Ten Hag. Most United fans when Ten Hag came in a year ago said that team needs between half a billion to a billion on it because you’re going to need a whole new team.
“You’re competing with Man City and a good player these days probably costs about £100million. So seven, eight players is £700-800million isn’t it?”
Goldbridge continued: “[Ten Hag] is absolutely right to ask for more money. His first season has been incredible.
“To be given Wout Weghorst, who is not good enough to start for anybody in the Premier League, and lose [Cristiano] Ronaldo and still get third place and two domestic cup finals - I think he’s been massively under-appreciated.
“I can’t believe he’s not been shortlisted for Manager of the Year when you’ve got people like Unai Emery and Marco Silva [nominated], who have had brilliant seasons. But Ten Hag taking over that squad, which was toxic a year ago and getting us to where we are…
“I’m not saying those managers mentioned haven’t done a great job. But Ten Hag has done a great job and every United fan knows that, because they know a year ago there were so many leaks, there was so much unhappiness, and ultimately the performance on the pitch was dreadful.
“So what a first season and he needs another £250million this summer just to compete with Arsenal.”