We know now, with hindsight, that the summer of 2016 — as with the summer of 2014 in Van Gaal's nascent United tenure — was another United
false dawn.
United spent big in both summers, an outlay of £175million in 2014 virtually matched two years later, with Marcos Rojo, Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao among those
bought under Van Gaal whose signings quickly went wrong. United also signed Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Matteo Darmian and Memphis Depay (among others) under the Dutchman; all came for significant fees, offered little of substance and were subsequently sold for less.
If the Mourinho era was supposed to be an improvement on what went before, 2016 seemed to start well. Bringing Paul Pogba back to the club in 2016 was a statement transfer — despite the club record fee — while Eric Bailly for £30million was seen as an answer to United's defensive struggles. Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer was supposedly the icing on the cake.
Yet the transfers of the Mourinho era would have a similar outcome to those under Van Gaal and the common denominator was clear — Woodward.
Meanwhile, their rivals Manchester City and Liverpool were making shrewd managerial appointments (Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp were appointed in the 2015/16 season) and smart decisions in the transfer market. It would soon show. City and Liverpool have won every league title between them since 2017.
Ralf Rangnick inherited a hodgepodge of a squad, littered with signings made by Ferguson, David Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho and Solskjaer. It's little wonder there's been no coherent philosophy or style with this United team, or that Rangnick has struggled to impose one in a matter of weeks.
United have to move on from the mistakes of the past to properly progress.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ter-united-transfer-history-mourinho-22839589
The club with a good manager & signing the right players will usually win the title. It is very important that Man Utd sign the right players.