Manchester United's hangover after the Jose Mourinho era looks set to continue through January after it emerged that the Old Trafford club still owes an astonishing £258m in transfer fees and associated costs.
United signed 11 players during Mourinho's time in charge of the club, and while he didn't have full control over transfers he had significant input alongside executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who signed off the deals. During the Mourinho era the club spent £370m chasing trophies.
And a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, Kieran Maguire, noted the incredible amount still outstanding on transfers while trawling through United's 2018 financial report.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has since replaced Mourinho, who was sacked in December, but the Norwegian is not expected to sign many players this month.
While there is a clear need to upgrade the backline, particularly at centre-back, United won't make any splashy signings in the January window with Solskjaer only currently interim boss and the club seeking to bring in a technical director to take charge of the recruitment strategy longer term.
United's commercial might means that they still tower over other clubs in terms of revenue and this summer is almost certain to see a return to big-spending ways.
However, after a hit-and-miss record in recent years and a huge amount of money wasted, Woodward will be keen to bring down some of the eye-watering fees effectively kicked down the road for payment.
Paul Pogba accounts for £90m of the transfer spending in recent years but was conspicuous by his absence from Manchester United training on Wednesday morning.
The 25-year-old has impressed since Solskjaer returned to the club as caretaker manager, producing another impressive display on his return from a leg injury as United beat Tottenham on Sunday, but the midfielder was not at training on Wednesday.
Nemanja Matic also missed the session.
