'Money is one thing but another thing is strategy' - ETH on how United can beat cash powerhouses

ERIK ten Hag believes United can remain immune from the financial threat posed by the Premier League's state-owned clubs by ensuring they have a strategic advantage.

- TYRONE MARSHALL

United travel to St James' Park today to take on a Newcastle side trying to break into the top four in their first full season under the ownership of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

They have spent around £210million on players in two transfers window since taking control of Newcastle, but earning a Champions League spot ahead of schedule could accelerate their plans to gatecrash the elite.

City have reined in their spending under their Abu Dhabi ownership and now balance the books through sales and increased commercial revenue, but they pursued an aggressive transfer market strategy in the early years of the takeover.

Those two clubs are always likely to have an advantage in the transfer market in the Premier League, although Chelsea have shattered records with a wild spending spree since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake takeover, while United did splash £225million on players themselves last summer, a club record for one window.

That left them hamstrung in January, however, when they could only focus on cutprice on loan deals as they navigated a Financial Fair Play tightrope. Ten Hag will have money to spend again this summer and a striker is top of his wishlist, although the scale of his budget could change depending on whether the Glazers opt to sell the club and do a deal with Sir Jim Ratcliffe or the Qatari group of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani.