Manchester United Women | Silly Season | Summer/winter 2025

This is an interesting and detailed discussion, with many valid and diverse points being made. I particularly agree with the last post by @Lobster11, but also most of what @Lightbringer and @jojojo have said too, so I'll try not to repeat any of that.

To focus a little on United - it was right for Hayley Ladd and Aoife Mannion to move on - both internationals in their 30s who gave so much to the club but who need the game time that they simply would not get with us.

Clinton is an interesting one. She is young and would not have got a sniff at United two years ago, got a great loan move to Spurs where she excelled and got an England call up. She, or we, decided that a permanent move was for the best after only one season back with us.

Agyemang is another interesting one. Played four times for Arsenal before a dual reg with Watford, then a loan to Brighton, where she started, impressed and got an England call up. She's still only 19.

We are not like Chelsea or Arsenal with a rich stock of younger players, but nor do we give our young players enough minutes - Watson made one substitute appearance last season. Safia Middleton-Patel has not played a game for United, and yet has played five games for Wales. Mared Griffiths another - zero games for United but one for Wales, so it's not as though "bench-warmers" are being ignored.

I don't think I actually have a point here, other than there is no one, simple answer. There are pathways for young players by going out on good loans, but also by staying put with an elite team. So, er, yes - that's my point.
 
You're mostly correct Demon, but Griffiths and SAF have both made cup appearances (including Griffith's memorable two goal debut away at Wolves). Watson is a curious case and I think we are still managing her ACL return carefully. Remember, she spent the second half of last season on loan at Everton and didn't really play there either.

There definitely is a pathway, but it takes many years to establish. We're only 7 years old and still trying to establish a full first team squad after all!
 
AmarilloMike said:
You're mostly correct Demon, but Griffiths and SAF have both made cup appearances (including Griffith's memorable two goal debut away at Wolves). Watson is a curious case and I think we are still managing her ACL return carefully. Remember, she spent the second half of last season on loan at Everton and didn't really play there either.

There definitely is a pathway, but it takes many years to establish. We're only 7 years old and still trying to establish a full first team squad after all!
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Yes, I was talking about league games. Sorry.
 
We can definitely benefit from more depth at right back, so that's good news, but now that Bizet is evidently on maternity leave we now also need help at right front.

Some time ago I half-seriously suggested that we should make a move for Trinity Rodman, who is now a free agent. I doubt that we can out-bid our usual WSL competitors, but the uncertainty about her future is currently big news here in the US so who knows. Just sayin'....
 
Demon Barber said:
@Lobster11 Rodman would be an excellent addition. Give her a call, would you?

I'd take Garcia back in a heartbeat.
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Sorry, I can't. A judge issued a restraining order after I called her last time.

Seriously, though, I have a hunch that Michele Kang will decide to "keep" her and sign her at Lyon or at London City.
 
Send her this, how could anyone resist:


And all the pies she can eat.
 
Lobster11 said:
Sorry, I can't. A judge issued a restraining order after I called her last time.

Seriously, though, I have a hunch that Michele Kang will decide to "keep" her and sign her at Lyon or at London City.
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Maybe so, but Kang cannot decide a player's future. She can offer riches - this is true - but I would not want a player who is driven by that.
 
On a different note. Geyse, remember her? Well, she's still a United player. She returns from her loan stay with Gotham in January. She's won a couple of trophies this year with them and she sounds like she's in a much better place emotionally than she was when she left.

Whether she will rejoin the team, I don't know. I guess we'll find out soon.
 
Demon Barber said:
Maybe so, but Kang cannot decide a player's future. She can offer riches - this is true - but I would not want a player who is driven by that.
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You might or might not have seen that Kang recently offered Rodman a big multi-year contract to keep her at the Spirit, backloading the total salary into the last year or two in an attempt to get around the salary cap. Evidently Rodman was prepared to accept it, but the league rejected it.

Trin has made clear that she really doesn't know what she wants to do right now. On the one hand she feels like she has unfinished business in Washington (after her team lost to Gotham in the final), and a lot of people (including Tobin Heath) are urging her to stay Stateside and become "the face of the NWSL." On the other hand she can make a lot more money in Europe, and she's long said that she wants to play there at some point to further develop her game.

Personally, I kinda get the sense that, like her dad, Trin might seek fame and fortune more than most women footballers do. If I'm right she wouldn't be a good choice for our squad, in part because there are other clubs than can offer her more of that and in part because she might not fit well into our team-oriented "family."
 
Interesting to see us linked with Schuller. She'd certainly bring quality and depth to our striker options.

I know she hasn't been an automatic starter with Bayern this season, so I guess a mid-season transfer isn't an impossibility.
 
But....but....Ineos and SJR don't care about the women's team....
 


I'm hoping we're in negotiations with Ella. I love her as a player (even if I do sometimes criticise her) but I also love her as a symbol of United's identity and its ties to Manchester.

Discussions with Terland are apparently underway.

Not on that list is Miyazawa, who we signed in 2023, so I'm not sure about when her contract runs out. At any rate we're negotiating with her on a new deal and discussions are said to be positive.

I'm not sure we'll see any other renewals from that list. I guess it'll depend on recruitment in a couple of cases, like Naalsund. Maybe a couple of one year contracts as well to preserve squad depth. But another summer of change seems likely.
 
If it's decided that we need more depth at left back, rumo(u)r is that American Jenna Nighswonger will probably be available in January, on loan if not permanently. She was signed last January by Arsenal but has seen precious few minutes on the pitch this year, which unfortunately has resulted in her also not being included in USWNT camps. It wasn't very long ago that we USWNT fans regarded her as the long-awaited solution at left back. I really think she could be one of those players whose contribution could far exceed what it would cost to bring her in, and already having WSL experience could be another big plus.
 
A nice summary of where the WSL clubs stand in the transfer market right now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2dzd789185o

Also lists some of the week known players who are out of contract in the summer from Ella Toone to Georgia Stanway to Trinity Rodman.

On United:
"Rivals Manchester United have been busy with two signings already confirmed and they are looking to add more. A central midfielder has been a target for a while, as reported by BBC Sport last month. They are tracking the situations of several big-name players in that position."
 
jojojo said:
"They are tracking the situations of several big-name players in that position."
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Anybody have any ideas about who might be on this list?

Edit: Maybe Georgia Stanway is ready to move home to England? Just sayin'....
 
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DOTA said:
Are we expecting to lose Toone?
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No, I don't think anyone expects that. We just need more quality depth in the midfield. I fear that we've been wearing Tooney out, especially when we're playing twice a week, and her recent hamstring issue is probably a symptom of that.

I like the idea of Stanway because I think she could play as a 10, as an 8, or as a 6. Plus, the more Lionesses the better, right? (I don't know if she is interested in moving, but her current contract expires this summer.)
 
Scanny said:
Arsenal seem to be favourites to sign Stanway.
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Any idea why this is (allegedly) the case -- other than an assumption that Arsenal would be able to offer her more money? Especially in light of our latest additions, it seems to me that United should be a very attractive option right now. I also wonder whether our recent signing of Schuller might change that?
 
Lobster11 said:
Any idea why this is (allegedly) the case -- other than an assumption that Arsenal would be able to offer her more money? Especially in light of our latest additions, it seems to me that United should be a very attractive option right now. I also wonder whether our recent signing of Schuller might change that?
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Just the rumours from various places online.
My Arsenal mates seem fairly confident that she’s going there as a long term replacement to Kim Little.
Who knows what the truth is though.
 
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