Manchester United have a long recent history of caving into ridiculous transfer demands and paying over the odds.
It isn’t any secret that when Manchester United come calling, most clubs apply what some refer to as a United tax.
Clubs are aware that the Red Devils have a deep pocket so feel they can up the asking price when John Murtough and Richard Arnold come calling.
The United tax is something first seen when Ed Woodward took charge of transfer negotiations.
Having someone with little knowledge on football and poor negotiation skills in charge, meant United were destined to overpay.
This was first seen and demonstrated back in 2013, as Woodward targeted Marouane Fellaini as his first major deal.
The Belgian had a £23million release clause which expired at the end of July, followed by a deadline day panic buy of £27.5m.
Various other deals have suffered a similar fate, such as the deals for Harry Maguire and Antony which were largely inflated by Old Trafford interest. United were offered Antony for a fee far below what they ended up paying.
United continue to suffer from United tax
The effects of years of poor transfer negotiations and over paying still haunts United to this day.
It is believed that one club executive told Murtough last summer, “You’re Manchester United. You’ve got loads of money.”
The player was believed to be RB Salzburg youngster Benjamin Sesko who has since joined RB Leipzig for almost half the praise Murtough was quoted.
United were quoted £41.8m while Sesko will cost Leipzig around £21.6m.
The residual effects of Woodward however do seem to be lessening, as United held their ground on the recent Mason Mount deal, sticking to their valuation of £55m. This a drastic price cut on Chelsea’s initial £70m asking price.
If United are to get back to the top level, they need to make it known they won’t pay over the odds.