Ten Hag blasted for dreadful £155m Man Utd transfer mistakes, as Ratcliffe urged to wield axe

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has criticised Erik ten Hag over his failed Manchester United signings, including costly winger Antony.

Ten Hag convinced Man Utd to spend a huge £86million to sign Antony from his former club Ajax in August 2022. The deal made Antony the second-most expensive player in Man Utd’s history, behind only Paul Pogba (who cost £89m).

However, Antony has failed to live up to the hype at Old Trafford. From 28 appearances this term, his only goal and assist have come against League Two Newport County in the FA Cup.

The Brazilian’s poor performances have seen him fall behind Alejandro Garnacho in the pecking order. Indeed, Antony has not played more than 20 minutes in a single league match so far this year.

Worryingly for Man Utd fans, the signing of Antony is not the only deal Ten Hag has gotten wrong. Other players including Sofyan Amrabat and Mason Mount have failed to have an impact for Man Utd, with the latter spending most of his time injured since a £60m move from Chelsea last summer.

Amrabat, meanwhile, joined the Red Devils on an initial loan from Fiorentina worth £8.5m. Wright has now questioned why Ten Hag and Man Utd spent just under £155m on those three players, with pressure mounting on the Dutch manager.

DON’T MISS: Stunning Jadon Sancho U-turn as Ratcliffe stance sparks major Man Utd decision

“You have to look at, is this the manager to take them to the next level? If you are looking at it now, I still don’t know what their main structure of play is,” Wright said on Premier League Productions (via MEN).

“You can’t buy players like Antony and it doesn’t work. Amrabat coming in and it doesn’t work. Why did you buy Mason Mount?

Man Utd errors ‘don’t happen at Man City’

“So, you are looking at players they have bought, just those three and you are thinking to yourself, ‘who is making those decisions?’ Those things don’t happen at Man City, of course, they don’t. They have an unbelievable management team.”

It seems Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his new Man Utd hierarchy are ready to listen to pundits such as Wright and Gary Neville, with a managerial change set to be made.

On Wednesday, sources confirmed to TEAMtalk that Ratcliffe will axe Ten Hag at the end of the season. There is no trust in the 54-year-old to take the club forward and help them challenge the likes of Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal for Premier League titles.

Man Utd are currently sounding out possible replacements for Ten Hag. The main coaches on their radar are Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, former Chelsea and Seagulls manager Graham Potter and wildcard option Thiago Motta, who is shining at Bologna.

READ MORE – Ten Hag sack: The eight Man Utd players whose standards have most dipped and leave Dutchman on the brink of axe