Manchester United bottled back-to-back transfers, players are now worth £115m

A new report has revealed that Manchester United bottled back-to-back transfers for players who are now worth around £155 million in combined asking prices.

It has been no secret that Manchester United‘s recruitment has been poor since Sir Alex Ferguson‘s retirement in 2013. Almost every high-value transfer into Old Trafford has not lived up to expectations.

Record fees and wages for Angel Di Maria and Alexis Sanchez have been outright failures, while transfers for Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, and Juan Mata brought mixed success. Bruno Fernandes is arguably the only high-value signing that has brought what those expected and more.

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However, it is not just the high-value and big-money deals that United have seemingly messed up on – a new report has come to light that shows Manchester United missed out on two players now worth up to £115 million combined due to bizarre cost-cutting exercises.

According to The Athletic, one player United identified very early on in his respective career is Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Pedro Neto, who is one of the most highly-rated young players in the Premier League.

According to the report, In early 2017, while still in his second year with Braga’s youth academy in Portugal, Neto was invited to visit Manchester United’s Carrington training base and attended an academy match at Leigh Sports Village.

At that time, United could have signed the 17-year-old for a nominal training compensation fee. The recruitment staff were eager to make the deal happen, but those in charge of approving a contract offer delayed for several weeks.

During this period, Neto signed a new contract with Braga and subsequently moved to Lazio in Italy on a two-year loan with an obligation to buy before moving to Wolves two seasons later in 2019.

Now, aged 24, Neto is being valued by his club at a fee of around £60 million, with Arsenal interested in the Portuguese. United were also linked with a move for the player earlier this year.

The other player, who has also had strong links to both Arsenal and United, is that of Slovenian striker Benjamin Šeško.

Just one year after the Neto deal fell through, United failed to secure Šeško due to haggling over comparatively nominal amounts to his current valuation of around £55 million.

In 2018, Manchester United learned that Red Bull Salzburg had made a €2 million offer for the Slovenian striker from Domzale. United, however, had only approved a €1 million bid. When the issue was brought to Matt Judge, the director of football negotiations, the offer was increased to just €1.1 million.

A week later, a further incremental rise to €1.2 million was still insufficient to compete with the Austrian club. Šeško, now 21, ultimately joined Salzburg and has since transferred to their German sister club, RB Leipzig.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the pair both play in positions that United desperately need to fill. With Rasmus Højlund currently the club’s only striker, United are looking to sign a new centre-forward this summer.

Given the sales of Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood and the poor form of £85 million winger Antony, a new right-winger to compete with Amad Diallo is also a priority. United are now feeling the effects of a decade of sub-par recruitment, with the £115 million valuation proof of this.

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