2
John Murtough has had a controversial time of it as Manchester United’s director of football since he took up the post in 2021.
Consequently, it has been reported that one of INEOS’ first steps when they are handed the keys to Old Trafford will be to sack the 53 year old, or move him sideways.
The club has been linked to a series of names such as Paul Mitchell, Dougie Freedman and Dan Ashworth to take over from Murtough. However, it is also thought by some that he could survive in his post even in a Sir Jim Ratcliffe-run organization.
The Athletic have taken a deep dive into some of Murtough’s most embarrassing moments as director or football. One such regrettable incident was the summer farce of 2022 where United spent all summer chasing Frenkie de Jong to end up paying huge amounts of cash on a much older and incredibly different profile of midfielder.
The Red Devils had agreed a £73m deal with Barcelona for the Dutchman but they could not agree terms with him personally, as he never had any desire to leave the club of his dreams.
Ten Hag was informed in mid-August of 2022 that there was no more money to spend in the window. However, shock losses to Brighton and Brentford at the start of the season sent the club into a state of panic and they sanctioned a huge knee-jerk offer for Real Madrid legend, Casemiro.
The Athletic claims that “the decision to go for Casemiro, a different profile of midfielder to De Jong, was taken despite some internal resistance”.
Many inside and outside of the club felt that the smarter long-term option would have been that of Declan Rice. Whilst a probable initial outlay of £120m would have been significantly larger than the £70m spent on the Brazilian, the deal would have been better for financial fair play (FFP).
The England international’s salary would have been much less than Casemiro’s supposed earnings of around £350,000 per week and he “could have signed a longer contract owing to his age, meaning the cost could have been amortised — or spread out — in the accounts over a longer period”. Never mind the potential resale value of a highly sought-after midfielder who is still only 24 years old.
INEOS are unlikely to be impressed by Murtough in this regard, as it is alleged that in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s meeting with the club in March, he referred to the Casemiro deal as an example of the poor choices the club have been making in the transfer market in recent years.
Another ramification of the Casemiro deal was that it ended any potential for a deal for Harry Kane this summer. England’s all-time leading scorer was always Ten Hag’s first choice striker but he was never a realistic option due to the financial hangover of the deal for Casemiro.
The Champions League-winning midfielder did have an instant impact on the team and was one of the most important players that helped the club achieve a third placed finish and win the Carabao cup. However, the myopic thinking combined with the scarcely believable failed pursuit of De Jong, sum up the body of work Murtough has to stand behind when justifying whether or not United should retain his services.
It is hard to argue with the logic that the club would be in a much better place currently and moving forward with Declan Rice and Harry Kane on the books instead of Casemiro.
This website aggregates and curates news articles, blog posts, and other content from a variety of external sources. While we aim to link back to the original source, this site does not own or claim ownership of any articles, posts, or other content indexed on this site. The views, opinions, and factual statements expressed in each piece of aggregated content belong solely to its respective author and publisher. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of aggregated content. Visitors are advised to verify facts and claims through the original source before reuse or redistribution.
