‘Who sanctioned that’ fumes Arsenal legend as he rips into Man Utd’s ‘bag of Revels’ transfer failures and £80m flop
PAUL MERSON has launched a scathing attack on Manchester United’s transfer business under Erik ten Hag.
The Arsenal legend was flabbergasted with United’s pursuit of Antony after ripping into the Brazilian’s £85.5m move.
Erik ten Hag‘s future is in the balance after United recorded their worst ever start to a Premier League season.
United sit 14th after picking up eight points from seven Prem games and have scored ONE goal at Old Trafford – on the opening day 1-0 win over Fulham.
The Dutchman’s future was discussed by club executives on Tuesday but there has been no communication on the outcomes of that near seven-hour meeting.
Despite a £180m summer outlay on Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee, Merson took aim at the transfer strategy.
Sky Sports presenter Rob Jones asked Merson: “If United have been a bag of Revels for two years now, that’s surely evidence that Ten Hag is not the man to take them forward?”
This sparked a classic Merson rant: “Man Utd have to be patient. And the only way to be patient is having a plan. And the plan is going to take time.
“I mean Man Utd have to start walking again before they can start running and they definitely can’t start sprinting yet. And this is what everybody thinks.
“The one thing that would worry me more than anything is who has come into that club and you’ve gone ‘wow he was a major success’.
“I mean Antony was £80m, have you picked up yet? Or have you fallen over?
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“I thought you’d fall over when I said £80m. I mean that just sums it all up.
“I’m looking at the players they’ve bought like the boy Rasmus Hojlund. I like Hojlund, the centre-forward, but he’s a young kid.
“You can’t put a young kid into Man Utd up front in a struggling team and say ‘go on mate go and get me 20 goals a season’.
“You can’t do it. For me it’s so wrong. And that’s me sitting on the outside. I just don’t know what they’ve done.”
“I mean £80m – who sanctioned that.
“And I don’t want to be horrible, I watched him in Holland, he goes down the wing, he cuts in and bends it into the far corner. He done it every week in Holland.
“You come to the Premier League and every single full-back is an international. And they work you out and won’t show you on that foot.”
“United can’t even say ‘do you what we will swallow one here and get £40m for him – they won’t even get that.”
In the midst of his passionate display, Merson also claimed that United legend Gary Neville would be perfect to bring in to oversee recruitment.
He added: “Gary has been at that club all his career, and he knows football from the inside out.
“You put someone like him in charge, even Rio Ferdinand, someone like that or even both of them together, and you go ‘right, we want to build this club- what players should we be bringing in?’”
The Red Devils admitted that they overpaid for Antony, 24, who joined from Ajax in 2022.