Five struggling Man Utd stars earn more than whole Fulham team to sum up major problem

Manchester United have endured a dismal start to the season and already face an uphill battle just to break into the top four after losing five of their opening 10 Premier League matches. That’s despite the club shelling out prodigious sums of cash to sign a whole host of players in recent years. And their financial profligacy is illustrated perfectly by the fact struggling stars Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Harry Maguire, Donny van de Beek and Antony together earn more than the entire Fulham squad.

United have fallen to eighth in the Premier League table following their poor form and trail fourth-place Liverpool by eight points. And the Red Devils are also faltering in the Champions League after losing to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray. The north west giants are a point adrift of second-place Galatasaray in Group A but face two tricky away trips in their final three group matches.

United’s squad has cost hundreds of millions to assemble, with the majority of players earning vast wages. But the money hasn’t been put to good use.

According to Sportrac, Sancho and Martial both earn £13million per season, while Antony is handed £10.4m and Maguire is paid £9.8m. Meanwhile, Van de Beek, who has only played two minutes of Premier League football this season, receives an annual package of £6.2m for his services.

Those five players therefore earn a whopping £52.4m between them annually. Those wages become even more astronomical when you consider none of those players are currently first-team regulars. Sancho looks set to depart the club in January after falling out with manager Erik ten Hag, Antony was dropped for the Manchester derby at the weekend and Martial hasn’t had a sniff of a regular starting place for years. Maguire almost left the club in the summer and rarely plays when Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez are fit, while Van de Beek has proven to be one of United’s worst-ever signings.

In comparison, Fulham’s annual payroll for their first team squad is £49.2m. And the disparity of wages between the Cottagers and the Red Devils is barely evident if you look at this season’s form. In fact, Fulham are just three points behind United and could move level with the northwest giants on Saturday when Ten Hag’s team travel to Craven Cottage.

If United want to dominate English football again, they need to spend their money wisely. Manchester City and Liverpool have excelled in the transfer market and have habitually received huge bang for their buck even when paying through the nose for some players. Arsenal and Tottenham also appear to have got their house in order in the transfer market and are now much more selective with targets when they do spend big.

For all the criticism thrown the way of the Glazers in recent years, at least they have backed their club in the transfer market and have paid the wages players have demanded. The performances of the stars United have brought in as a result of that spending may leave the American family wishing they never bothered.