Manchester United’s outlay in the transfer market since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 has been borderline obscene.

£80m on Harry Maguire, £59.7m for Angel Di Maria and £75m spent on Romelu Lukaku represented moves which didn’t quite work out, yet they cost the Old Trafford side millions in fees and wages.

There is no doubt that poor business in the transfer market set the club back years and it only feels like now under Erik ten Hag that the Red Devils could become a force once again.

Along with the three aforementioned transfers, Jose Mourinho arguably wasted the most money by splashing out a staggering £89m to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus in the summer of 2016, and to say the move didn’t go as planned is an understatement at best.

How much did Paul Pogba cost Manchester United?

When Mourinho took over at United in 2016, he was looked upon as the manager who could bring the side out of their post-Fergie malaise and back into the big time.

Winning three trophies in 2016/2017 was certainly a solid enough start, yet that was about as good as it got for the Portuguese manager, and Pogba’s performances didn’t exactly set the fire alight either.

His first three seasons produced 31 goals, while he also registered 29 assists, yet he couldn’t lead United to any more silverware other than the three captured during his first season.

Manchester United writer Samuel Luckhurst even described him as “woeful” in April 2019 and his performances were only going to get worse after that.

His final three seasons in a United jersey saw him net just nine times while missing 75 matches due to a variety of injury issues and having splashed out £89m for his services, it's fair to say Juventus got the much better end of the deal.

Combining his transfer fee plus the wages he received at the Red Devils (£85.8m between 2016 and 2022) meant the Frenchman managed to rinse the club for an astounding £175m over those 308 weeks.

The astronomical fee proves that throwing money at players simply won't work and at the end of last term, he re-joined Juventus on a free transfer.

Ten Hag has spent a significant sum of money at United so far, however, his signings look like they have already played a key part in bringing the side back to where they belong. Signing duds like Pogba will hopefully be a thing of the past as the club continue its new era under the Dutchman.