Erik ten Hag has defended Manchester United’s significant investment in the transfer market, stating that all the top teams are doing the same.
The Dutchman recruited six new signings during his first summer in charge, spending a combined £210m on Antony, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia and Christian Eriksen, while Martin Dubravka, Jack Butland, Marcel Sabitzer and Wout Weghorst all joined on loan.
United’s spending has not stopped this summer. Mason Mount joined from Chelsea for an initial £55m, with a further £47m spent on Andre Onana, and the shopping spree keeps going as Rasmus Hojlund is close to joining from Atalanta for up to £72m.
When asked whether the increased investment puts pressure on him and his players, Ten Hag insisted United are not the only team to be spending big.
“In comparison with the other [teams], we are not doing more or less,” he told the media. “They all invested a lot in their teams. I’m not focusing on this issue because it’s totally, for me, unattractive.
“I have to think about my way of play and how I improve my team. I will fight for players who I want to have in and I will demand from the club to get the right players in and when we have that, we have to get results.”
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Ten Hag went on to stress that his near-£400m spending spree does not mean United should be viewed as title challengers for the coming Premier League season.
“I think in pre-season we shouldn’t talk about that [the title]. I think no one in the Premier League can do that, [except] maybe City,” said Ten Hag.
“They can do that because for the last six years they won the title five times. So they can talk about that but any other club must first compete for the first four positions and make sure you are getting in the first four. And then, after, the first two and then maybe you can see about getting yourself in such a position. But don’t talk about that achievement.”
He continued: “I think we have proven we can beat them, but you have to do it every day and in this moment, we have a way to go.
“City are also winning their games much more easily than we did, so I see the facts. But I actually don’t want to talk about them because it sounds negative, and it’s not the way I meant it. I want to talk about our project. I want to talk about how we improve and I think the improvements last year and the results were quite obvious but also in the performance.
“It was quite obvious that we could beat the big opponents and also City. In the three games, you saw absolutely that we increased the levels against them.
“We are looking at ourselves and not looking at other teams. We have a competition with seven, eight clubs in the Premier League, across Europe even more teams, so we have to work on our way of play and improve our performance. It has to be optimum.”
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On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette react to the news Manchester United have agreed a fee with Atalanta for Rasmus Hojlund.
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