Ole revealed that when he became the manager of #mufc, he had to agree to a limit of only three major first-team transfers per summer:
1st transfer window: Dan James (£12m), Maguire, and AWB. The following Jan, due to this restriction, the club opted for Ighalo over Haaland since Ighalo was available on loan (and loans were the only option) as he already made his 3 signings that summer.
2nd summer window: Donny, Cavani (on a free transfer), Telles, and two 17/18-year-olds, Amad and Pellistri. It's worth noting that Ole had requested Grealish, Sancho, and Bellingham that summer. That summer the Glazers must have counted Cavani and Telles as major signings as in January, Ole was informed that he couldn't acquire Caicedo (£4m).
3rd summer: Varane, Sancho, and Ronaldo. However, it's important to clarify that Man Utd didn't even consider signing Ronaldo before the end of August. Despite Ole's desire for Rice he was told they didn't have the funds for a DM.
This 3 major-signings-per-season rule appears to continue under Ten Hag. Even after signing Mount, Onana, and Hojlund, and selling players, the club still couldn't afford the £20m Amrabat and could only pursue loan deals.
When Ronaldo left, they were unable to sign Ten Hag's target, Gakpo, and could only rely on loans (such as Weghorst).
The problem with this rule of limiting the manager to 3 major signings per season is that it not only restricts the manager but also exacerbates the issues. The team enters every season without addressing known squad problems, leading to the need to acquire average loan players each season to provide short-term solutions.
The other big problem is on top of the problems we try to fix with short loan deals going into the season, more problems arise during the season so the next summer we have to fix many things and again we don't.
De Gea came to this United and was ridiculed by the press for being too weak. He leaves United ridiculed for not being a modern keeper. But he'll be remembered for being a legend that kept us relevant through a decade of failure. Thanks Dave and Respect