Louis van Gaal has no excuses with Manchester United squad worth £379m

Manchester United have the most expensive squad in the Premier League
The Red Devils team cost £379.4m to assemble
Louis van Gaal has made a number of big money signings
Angel di Maria moved to Old Trafford in a £59.7m move from Real Madrid

Louis van Gaal won’t have any excuses if Manchester United fail to mount a title challenge this season – he has easily the most expensive squad in the Premier League at his disposal.

After a tumultuous summer transfer window closed last week, Mail on Sunday research can reveal the United boss has been left with a squad that cost £379.4million to assemble, more than either Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini or Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho can boast.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement a little over a year ago, United’s new 'noisy neighbours' policy has seen them spend a staggering £215 million on players to try and stay on top of the tree.

No excuses:the Manchester United squad at Louis van Gaal's disposal is worth a staggering £379million

Big deals: Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao both arrived at Old Trafford in big-money moves this summer

In the last window alone, they broke the British transfer record fee on Angel Di Maria and signed Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind before splashing out a further £5million to take Falcao on loan from Monaco.

While Burnley broke their transfer record by paying £3million for George Boyd, United have 16 players that they paid at least £10million for.

And while there has been criticism that the squad is top-heavy with attacking players, van Gaal will have a goalkeeper David de Gea and defenders Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Rafael, Rojo, Shaw and Blind available – signed for a total of £104.7million

To put it into context, the figure United have spent on defenders (including goalkeeper) is more than 15 Premier League clubs have spent on their entire squads.

Louis van Gaal: A new team is not built in one month

Record transfer: George Boyd joined Burnley for £3m - United boast 16 players who cost at least £10m

The change in the Premier League landscape is due to Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour reining in spending to comply with financial fairplay regulations while United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward attempts to prove his club are major players in European football despite finishing only seventh last season and missing out on the Champions League.

United want to build a team that mixes superstars and homegrown talent – an English version of Real Madrid during their Galactico years.

The Essex-born accountant, who went to the same public school as Frank Lampard, may have a quieter personality than Manchester City’s former CEO Garry Cook but they have a similar vision for their football clubs; speculate to accumulate and make the world know you’re there.

Woodward made it clear last year he would have broken the world-transfer record had Gareth Bale or Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to move to Old Trafford and he will spend more in January on Kevin Strootman and a top-class defender, with the option to buy Falcao for £45million next summer.

Talented: Left back Luke Shaw moved to Manchester United from Southampton in a £30m switch

All smiles: Daley Blind shakes hands with manager Louis van Gaal having joined Man United from Ajax

Financial analysts Deloitte confirmed: ‘Manchester United have recorded the highest ever gross spend by a Premier League club in a summer transfer window. The Red Devils have spent £150m on new talent this window, representing 18% of the aggregate gross transfer spend by Premier League clubs.’

In one sense, it is a throwback to the years when Ferguson started out and consistently broke the transfer record to sign the likes of Gary Pallister, Roy Keane and Andy Cole. Over time though, particularly once The Glazers were installed, the spending dropped as City dominated.

Now, the wheel is turning back as Woodward realises United can not afford to be out of Europe for more than a season if they want to attract the top talent.

On the other side of Manchester, City - regarded as the biggest-spending club in world sport - will actually go into this season with a squad that is £26million cheaper than United’s, at £353.7million.

Mourinho has a squad that cost £301.3million with plenty of other signings like Fernando Torres and Marco van Ginkel loaned out and not available to him this season.

Overall, the figures underline the close relationship between how much you spend and what success you can expect to achieve.

There is a huge gap in transfer spending between six clubs – United, City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham – and the rest. Everton have the seventh-most expensive squad, costing nearly £96million.

Big spenders: Premier League clubs splashed the cash this summer in a bid to improve their squads

Two of the current bottom three in the Premier League, Burnley and Crystal Palace, are also in the bottom three of spenders.

However, there are some exceptions. United, for one. They are No1 in spending but currently sit 14th in the table without a league win this season. That will change once the new signings all play, starting against QPR next Sunday.

The other honourable exception is Swansea City. Their 25-man squad, plus eligible under-21s, cost a relatively modest £44.6million – less than any other club in the division bar four. Yet they have enjoyed success in the top flight over the last two seasons and are currently joint-top with maximum points from three matches.

There is concern that the ever-increasing spending from the top Premier League clubs will kill competition over time and may even put clubs down the pecking order out of business.

Former Manchester City manager Brian Horton, now assistant-manager at League One Doncaster Rovers, warned at the MBNA Northwest Football Awards last week: ‘The whole Premier League world has escalated out of all proportion in terms of transfer fees and players’ wages

‘Unless we change something then some of those clubs lower down will go and that will be a major shame because the set-up we have, with the 92 clubs, is the best in the world.’

It’s a fair argument but van Gaal, who let his hair down last week while watching new signing Blind collect the Dutch Football Writers’ Player of the Season award, will point out he is under pressure too.

United have talked the talk financially, there are now 379 million reasons for the Dutchman to walk the walk.