Manchester United

Gerard Houllier: 'Manchester United no longer a club, but a factory'

By Danielle Joynson, Staff Reporter | 10 August 2016

Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier says that Manchester United are no longer a club, but a "factory" instead following the £89m purchase of Paul Pogba.

Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has claimed that Manchester United have lost their identity as a club, and are more of a "factory" following the world-record acquisition of Paul Pogba.

Jose Mourinho's club forked out £89m to re-sign the Juventus midfielder, who left Old Trafford four years ago on a free transfer.

At 23 years old, Pogba is now the most expensive footballer in history, eclipsing the £85m figure paid by Real Madrid to sign Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.

"The sum involved in the transfer has an inhibiting side," Houllier told L'Equipe. "It could become a problem depending on the personality of the player, who shouldn't put himself under pressure in terms of that. That's why the manager's discourse is very important.

"Manchester United generate impressive income. €120m over five years? That's an instalment of €25m per season. It's reasonable when you have a budget of over €500m because Man U carry out purchases or sales every transfer window of around €50m.

"It's no longer a club. It's a factory."

United have also signed Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer.