Manchester United face Ajax in the Europa League final in Sweden on May 24

The game will put football's biggest spenders against a team famed for frugality

Ajax have signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suarez and sold them for big profit

Ajax spent less on 10 biggest transfers than Paul Pogba's world-record £89m fee

When Manchester United meet Ajax at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on May 24, few will realise the scale of difference between two sides once considered juggernauts of European football.

With Dutch football falling well behind the Premier League in what is now a global game, Ajax are financial minnows compared to moneybags Manchester United and nowhere is that summed up better than their respective transfer budgets.

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As revealed by Sportsmail's Nick Harris, Manchester United have spent £455million on transfer fees in the last three years, which is significantly more than Ajax have spent since World War II.

Ajax reached the Europa League final by knocking out French club Lyon in the semi-finals

Manchester United scraped past Celta Vigo by the skin of their teeth on Thursday evening

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AJAX TOP 10 SIGNINGS 1. Miralem Sulejmani - £13.7m 2. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - £7.6m 3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - £7.3m 4. Nikos Machlas - £7.3m 5. Michael Laudrup - £6.3m 6. Luis Suarez - £6.3m 7. Ferdi Vierklau - £6.2m 8. Daley Sinkgraven - £5.9m 9. Georgi Kinkladze - £5.7m 10. Darío Cvitanich - £5.5m Total: £72.10m Accounting for inflation: £87.7m Paul Pogba to Man United: £89m

In comparison, the Dutch outfit have spent a total of £379m (adjusted for inflation) over the last 70 years with their record signing Miralem Sulejmani coming in at a modest £13.7m, a figure Manchester United have surpassed on 33 separate occasions.

More incredibly, tallying up Ajax's 10 biggest signings, which include household names like Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic before they were truly famous, comes in at £87.7m when adjusted for inflation.

As Manchester United fans will instantly recognise, that is slightly less than the £89m their club paid to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus last summer.

Impressively, Ajax have sold nine players for more than the price of Sulejmani including Daley Blind's 2014 move to Old Trafford.

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Manchester United did, of course, sign Ibrahimovic for free, but the £367,640 a week they pay the Swede means the financials of that deal are well beyond the £7.3m Ajax paid for him in 2001.

Midfielder Paul Pogba cost more than Ajax's 10 biggest transfer deals in their entire history

Ajax signed a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Malmo and sold him to Juventus for a big profit

Ajax, who are still revered for their 'Total Football' approach and prolific academy production line, remain one of Europe's most decorated clubs with four European Cup/Champions League titles to their name.

That is one more than Manchester United have managed although the Red Devils have lifted the famous trophy twice since Ajax last achieved the feat in 1995.

Regardless, the sheer difference in financial clout raises questions as to how and why Manchester United are not competing at a higher level. They pay the biggest fees and wages yet find themselves in sixth place in the Premier League and in Europe's second tier competition.

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Ajax, meanwhile, can still win the Eredivisie as they go into the final game of the season with leaders Feyenoord just one point ahead, all while spending a mere fraction of the money.

Ajax have four European Cup/Champions League titles in their history, more than United

Ajax have made vast sums of money from blooding and selling talent like Christian Eriksen