The one thing about hitting rock bottom is that the only way from there is up.
Manchester United finished a lowly eighth in the Premier League last season, a whopping 31 points behind neighbours and eventual champions Manchester City. That manager Erik ten Hag managed to retain his job was a surprise.
United did have one bright spot in the 2023/24 season: beating City in the FA Cup final.
But United were handed a reality check early into the new season in the form of a Community Shield defeat on penalties to City.
United looked set to repeat their FA Cup final win in May when Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring at Wembley on 82 minutes.
However, Bernardo Silva's header forced the game to penalties, where City edged a marathon shoot-out 7-6.
United have added to their ranks with the signings of striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna, as well as in-demand teenage defender Leny Yoro. They followed that with the double signing of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich.
The arrivals of De Ligt and Mazraoui couldn't have been better timed as Yoro is set to be sidelined for three months with a foot injury and full-back Luke Shaw will miss the start of the season with a calf problem.
Another United defender, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, has joined Premier League rivals West Ham United for a reported fee of £15 million.
Wan-Bissaka agreed a seven-year contract with the Hammers after spending five years at Old Trafford. The right-back made 190 appearances for United following his 2019 move from Crystal Palace.
The 26-year-old appeared in the FA Cup final win but was not in United manager Ten Hag's plans for the new season.
Still, there is hope that United can turn things around. British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has assumed control of football operations and has made major changes at boardroom level as well as on the pitch.
Plans are in place to build a new and state-of-the-art stadium to replace the dilapidated Old Trafford.
Whether all that positivity will seep into the squad remains to be seen. For now, United players can at least be certain of fervent support from their massive fan base. Also, they are assured of some of the best salaries in football.
Below is the list of the top-earning players at Old Trafford for the 2024-25 season. List complied using data from caplogy.com and spotrac.com.
Highest paid players at Manchester United for 2024-25
1. Casemiro - £350,000 per week
2. Marcus Rashford - £300,000 per week
=3. Jadon Sancho - £250,000 per week
3. Mason Mount - £250,000 per week
5. Bruno Fernandes - £240,000 per week
6. Antony - £200,000 per week
7. Harry Maguire - £190,000 per week
=8. Luke Shaw - £150,000 per week
8. Christian Eriksen - £150,000 per week
=10. Victor Lindelof - £120,000 per week
10. Andre Onana - £120,000 per week
10. Lisandro Martinez - £120,000 per week
13. Leny Yoro - £115,000 per week
14. Joshua Zirkzee - £105,000 per week
=15. Diogo Dalot - £85,000 per week
15. Rasmus Hojlund - £85,000 per week
17. Tyrell Malacia - £75,000 per week
18. Jonny Evans - £65,000 per week
19. Scott McTominay - £60,000 per week
20. Alejandro Garnacho - £50,000 per week
21. Tom Heaton - £45,000 per week
22. Altay Bayindir - £35,000 per week
23. Amad Diallo - £28,000 per week
=24. Kobbie Mainoo - £20,000 per week
24. Facundo Pellistri - £20,000 per week
26. Hannibal Mejbri - £15,000 per week
27. Willy Kambwala - £7,500 per week
Note: Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui salaries not yet released.
