As Manchester United continue to struggle on the pitch, journalist Daniel Harris believes the club's owners have all but given up in their attempts to facilitate a team that may challenge at the upper end of the Premier League.
With the club languishing in the lower half of the table after Sunday's defeat to Newcastle United, where Champions League qualification had once appeared to be the least that the Glazer family expected of Manchester United, that may no longer be the case.
"Probably the biggest change in football since the Glazers took over is that bums on seats are no longer the premier source of revenue," asserted Daniel Harris on Monday's OTB AM.
"It's now TV money, and that's going to keep coming. Of course, it is contingent on United being good, having a full stadium and that kind of thing, but what we saw this summer told us that the Glazers are not now even bothered about United getting into the top-4."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first serious attempt at making his mark in the transfer window, while Harry Maguire, Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have all made strong starts with United, Harris argued that the evidence of the owners' indifference has manifested itself elsewhere.
"If United had signed two midfield players," argued Harris, "you might have looked at it and thought there's a pretty good chance United would be odds-on to get into the top-4.
"The Glazers decided not to spend that money and that tells you they are not interested.
"Previously, you could understand from a financial perspective that the Glazers weren't that bothered about winning the league, because in order to win the league you have to speculate a lot of money.
"The money you actually gain from winning the league is relatively small and it is not a sure thing.
"In general, Champions League qualification has been the business plan, but the Glazers failing to spend this summer told you that they weren't actually that arsed about getting into the Champions League because they didn't the spend the money that would enable United to have a shot at doing that."
Although some may point to the money spent on Maguire, James and Wan-Bisakka as continued evidence of Manchester United's spending across recent transfer windows, the departure of high-earners like Romelu Lukaku, Antonio Valencia and Ander Herrera, combined with the loaning out of Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez, leaves United's outlay looking rather modest in comparison to a number of their supposed rivals.
You can watch back Daniel Harris' full assessment of Manchester United's defeat to Newcastle United here.
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