Spurs and United are abject failures it’s obvious why

Towards the end of the transfer window, as poor results led to a growing sense of panic around Tottenham Hotspur, the club pushed for some unexpected deals. Some were so unexpected that the targets abruptly expressed no interest in going there. More than one player preferred a move to Aston Villa.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

Manchester United aren’t at that point but they have found their sway isn’t what it was. Many under-23s, which is the age profile the club are now prioritising, have grown up with the club looking like a basketcase rather than frequent champions. One target’s disinterest was described as “a low”. That’s been the thing with this season for both clubs. As bad as it has got, it has always felt like a new nadir is just around the corner.

They come despite the clubs’ fixed places in the upper reaches of the Deloitte Football Money League. The latest edition actually dropped on 23 January, just after United had lost 3-1 to Brighton and Spurs had fallen 3-2 to Everton. Both were left entrenched in the bottom half of the table, and yet there they were in the top 10 of a list executives pore over. The latest figures show United had a revenue of around £640m for 202324, in fourth, and Spurs £513m, in ninth.

All that in a football world in which there is a 90 per cent correlation between wage bill and league position – it shouldn’t really be possible for them to be this bad. United and Spurs have become the anomalous 10 per cent, in terms of performance, as much as they are football’s 1 per cent in terms of wealth.

The evidence of the modern game is that such riches afford clubs safety nets, levels under which they cannot go. Only four years ago, both considered themselves so far above most of the game that they had designs on a Super League. Football comes at you fast. They’ve now fallen so fast they’ve burst through those safety nets.