The team isn't being decimated, the problem is that we continue to show no actual ambition to challenge the three ahead of us, and the ownership is more or less happy with the situation as long as the team can finish safely mid-table. Maybe they'll surprise me in the coming 6 weeks but nothing suggests that so far, and I'll be surprised if we spend more than we got for the three major outgoings (so far).
Manchester United Women | Silly Season | Summer/winter 2026
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I worry that there are not enough goals in our team, which will stop us challenging.
It's more about money.
United Women's team is currently pretty self sustained which I believe seems to be the way the club wants to run the team, rightly or wrongly.
It's not a lack of ambition, moreso a sensible financial outlook, which we have seen across the men's team too.
The team will look to bring in two young players who can hopefully make the step up, then get some money from them in a few seasons time if the clubs in the same position.
It is a lack of ambition, by definition. There is no ambition to challenge the best teams in England, and by extension Europe. It's not ambitious to have a similar wage spend to Brighton. Financial stability is purely an excuse, because these are not large sums for a club that brags about being "the biggest in the world".
You really think the club doesn't want the women's team to win the league??
United Women's team cannot compete with Chelsea, City or Arsenal for wages nor transfer fees,
I think people also forget how new a team this is...
They don't care, this should be extremely obvious to anyone with basic observation skills. The owner says the men's team needs to be "sorted out" before any effort can be put into the women's team. He doesn't visit any matches, including cup finals. Players frequently leave due to the lack of ambition we show. Do you think it's ambitious to be in the same bracket as Brighton's overall wages? If yes, then I have to question what your definition of ambition is.
We can't compete with those teams because we choose not to. We are not a scrappy new team punching above their weight any longer, we had a better record in the team's third season of existence than we had last season. If we continually act like Spurs, we will continue to be Spurs.
Again, United men's team are currently counting the pennies, ask yourself why would the woman's team be any different, especially when it makes hardly any money of itself outside transfer income..
Sad fact but it's true. United is still a very new team, and outside the name doesn't have the financial clout of Chelsea or Arsenal or City. All three who have been going for longer and have foundations greater than United's.
The outlier here is LCL, who are a vanity project bankrolled by a benefactor, but also are essentially a club that have been going longer than United.
Last year I thought we were good enough to compete for the league title if we hadn't been in the CL and City had been. We were in second place for much of the season, qualified for the CL, and made a deeper run than anyone could have reasonably expected. The problem was that we didn't have the depth required to add all those mid-week matches to our schedule, and eventually the team broke down due to psychological and physical fatigue combined with a rash of injuries -- which themselves were likely the result of too many matches and not enough rest. That won't happen again this year.
As I explained earlier in this thread (post #113), I don't see the recent transfers as "decimating" us and I don't think they seriously hurt the team. And since the club got us a half-dozen excellent signings last year I'm optimistic that they will get us at least a couple more before this window closes.
But City had better results in the big matches. They werent just holding the biggest teams, they were beating them. So even if all our players were available and we never suffered from poor fitness and a lack of squad depth, our first choice players werent getting the points City were. We could have finished 2nd yup, but we couldnt outdo City.
In my defense, I didn't say that we would have won the league; I said we would have competed for the title. If we had finished second, or even third, everyone would have been ecstatic and optimistic about this season.
That said, I think people underestimate the advantages City had by not playing in the CL. I remember hearing at some point in the season that they had started the same XI for something like 10 matches in a row, which meant that they were a well-oiled machine. They didn't suffer a rash of injuries late in the season, as we and Chelsea did. And facing Chelsea or Arsenal three days after a mid-week CL match, especially if there is travel involved, is a lot different from doing so after a standard week of rest and preparation. For that reason I think it is possible, though admittedly perhaps not probable, that our record against the top teams would have been much better, and City's worse, if they had been in the CL instead of us.
For sure they had the advantage, but even early on in the season where we were happy to draw with big teams to show we could compete, they had some wins. So I feel like our players werent tired yet, City just had a better first team able to get bigger results
There is a reason for that though - while they had gone off the boil in recent times particularly last season, they still had a bunch of players who had proven they were at the 2nd placed team in the league in most previous seasons. They still had Shaw, Hasegawa, Miedema... Greenwood had been a good CB in the past etc. so for them it was about filling the holes between those players who had already proven they were among the best in the league. Whereas we're still trying to get to that top contender spot in the league. We just had that 1 season in 22/23 and our players havent kept those standards up. We have some experienced players from other leagues and competitions, but we dont have players who have finished 2nd most seasons and were competing for a WSL title race. And yeah filling the gaps between those players didnt take them long at all. They did get a new manager in which helped, they made some signings and they did the job. But replacing those players when they cant keep it up will be the real task... And we still need those players, the ones that lead the team to a win against Arsenal or us. Chelsea did well against them but they at least had a win and a defeat against Arsenal which is still 3 points rather than 1 or 2 from a draw or two. And those are the hardest the find, especially when our rivals spend big for them and we do not.
I agree completely with all of this. City (like Chelsea and Arsenal) have a better first team than we do, including more superstars who are capable of winning a match single-handedly. That's just a fact. My point is just that us being in the CL and them not gave them an additional advantage, so our chances of beating them were slim to none. Had the situation been reversed that gap would have been narrowed -- perhaps enough so to level the playing field. When we played them last year they were able to start their first team, as usual, whereas Skinner was just trying to find enough ambulatory players to field a starting XI.
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My recent discussion with @Ekeke got me to thinking about the more general question of what additional new signings we would need in this window to be able to compete for the league title, or at least a top-three finish -- keeping in mind that without the CL we won't need as much quality depth as we did (and sadly lacked) last season.
This earlier post seems like as good as any place to start:
Given its place in the thread, I assume this comment was largely motivated by the news of Malard leaving. If we focus on where the goals have come from over the last two/three years, this is certainly something to be worried about. We will miss Mel for sure, but I'm optimistic anyway. Hear me out....
First, we'll have Bizet back after her absence on maternal leave last season. We could argue about how much of the hole left by Malard she is capable of filling, but at least it's not a net loss in terms of number of quality attackers.
Second, we still have Park, Terland, Schuller, Rolfo and Wangerheim. The last three were all new signings last year (two of them in the winter) and didn't contribute much in terms of goals, but I expect that all three will be more productive this season as they get more fully settled in.
Third, we will have a happy, healthy Ella Toone after playing without her for much of last season. If she can regain the form we all know she is capable of, that's a potential key source of goal contributions. (Plus, IMO, having Tooney and Park on the field together potentially makes Park more dangerous, as well as vice-versa.)
Fourth, we recently signed Layla Drury to a contract, and although we didn't get to see much of her last season what we saw was pretty exciting. Despite her young age she looks like she could become a serious scoring threat very quickly. I expect Skinner to manage her minutes carefully, but she looks like someone who could come in after 60 minutes and be a game-changer.
By my count, all of that puts us two-deep on the left wing (Rolfo, Drury), two-deep on the right wing (Park, Bizet) and three-deep at the 9 (Terland, Schuller, Wangerheim) -- plus Toone at the 10. That looks to me like a lot of firepower, at least on paper. (Of course, all this depends on not losing any of these players before September.)
I'd really like to hear what others have to say. Am I being overly optimistic? Am I making too many dubious assumptions? What have I missed?
This earlier post seems like as good as any place to start:
Given its place in the thread, I assume this comment was largely motivated by the news of Malard leaving. If we focus on where the goals have come from over the last two/three years, this is certainly something to be worried about. We will miss Mel for sure, but I'm optimistic anyway. Hear me out....
First, we'll have Bizet back after her absence on maternal leave last season. We could argue about how much of the hole left by Malard she is capable of filling, but at least it's not a net loss in terms of number of quality attackers.
Second, we still have Park, Terland, Schuller, Rolfo and Wangerheim. The last three were all new signings last year (two of them in the winter) and didn't contribute much in terms of goals, but I expect that all three will be more productive this season as they get more fully settled in.
Third, we will have a happy, healthy Ella Toone after playing without her for much of last season. If she can regain the form we all know she is capable of, that's a potential key source of goal contributions. (Plus, IMO, having Tooney and Park on the field together potentially makes Park more dangerous, as well as vice-versa.)
Fourth, we recently signed Layla Drury to a contract, and although we didn't get to see much of her last season what we saw was pretty exciting. Despite her young age she looks like she could become a serious scoring threat very quickly. I expect Skinner to manage her minutes carefully, but she looks like someone who could come in after 60 minutes and be a game-changer.
By my count, all of that puts us two-deep on the left wing (Rolfo, Drury), two-deep on the right wing (Park, Bizet) and three-deep at the 9 (Terland, Schuller, Wangerheim) -- plus Toone at the 10. That looks to me like a lot of firepower, at least on paper. (Of course, all this depends on not losing any of these players before September.)
I'd really like to hear what others have to say. Am I being overly optimistic? Am I making too many dubious assumptions? What have I missed?
No, I think you're on the money for most part. My concern is mostly around the depth in midfield and in central defence. Our starters are fine for most part in those positions but my feeling is we will be turning towards younger players pretty quickly in case of injuries.
Regarding attackers, we'd miss Malard's goals in Europe I think, but that may be less of a problem this season so I'm personally not as worried about losing her as others are in this thread. I think we should definitely try and keep Terland though - I've not been convinced by Schuller much. Wangerheim needs more games as a number 9, but I'm more optimistic there.
I fail to see how you are more optimistic about Wangerheim than Schuller. Im not convinced by either but Wangerheim is massively out of her depth it seems if evidenced by performances last season.
I'd agree completely if you're talking about her performances at RW. When she played up front she looked at home; held the ball up well, her movement both off the ball and on it were on point and she knew what she was doing with her timing and positioning. I don't think she has any idea how to really play RW. Very tiny sample size, of course, but I see the potential. She's also got time on her side.
Thanks for that, and I totally agree that our priorities now are signing a midfield and a center-back. Given that we just lost one of each, it seems that the least the club to do is replace them.
I also would hate to lose Terland, for the obvious reasons but also because we'll have Bizet back, and she seems to bring out the best in Teri.
I'm also very optimistic about Wangerheim, although it seems most folks around here have already given up on her. I might be a little more optimistic than you about Schuller, though. She was a proven commodity when she arrived, so I'm hopeful after a proper preseason with the team she will show us this year why we signed her.
I wouldn’t be so sure that we’ll have a fit Bizet back this season. She just gave birth and will probably have her maternity leave, and even after that it takes a while to get back to match fitness. So realistically we’re probably looking at 2027-28, although her contract ends next summer. Can’t remember how it was with Blundell, but I don’t think it’s sensible to expect her to be at her best this season. If she plays at all.
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Just wanted to say I hope to reply to this in a bit. But I'm a bit frustrated with the window for the womens team so far and I just watched the Malard exit video. I expected to lose a Malard or a Riviere to one of the biggest clubs. But for me as I still rate Turner as our best CB partner for Le Tissier - albeit shes had injury issues, so for me thats a 2nd starter we've sold. So I'm going to wait to see what the incoming transfers are before I speak about the team in depth at the moment. Hopefully theres a couple of players I know and rate coming in and I'll have something positive to add. However obviously... A lot of the playrers I know and rate from doing well abroad or in the WSL have already moved... So... Not sure I'll be appeased.
Edit - We also sold our under 21s player of the season, 18 year old Sienna Wareing to West Ham. We must think its a big leap from our u21s to our first team, but would be nice if we gave them a try like Drury and Anderson or Watson and Griffiths the season before.
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Aw, crap, you're right. For some reason I was thinking that she had given birth many months ago, but it turns out it was just last month. That makes the loss of Malard more problematic than I had realized.
I am as frustrated as anyone about our activity in this window so far; I think I might just be more optimistic than most that the club will come through before it's over. I do wish they would move sooner than later, though, with preseason training starting... tomorrow?
It’s time to recognise that Manchester United (INEOS) have little to no interest in the women’s team. Midtable at best this season. I’ve no confidence that this transfer window will improve.
I'm obviously more optimistic than you -- although "less pessimistic" might be a more accurate way to put it -- but I agree that if we don't make some more good signings in this window we'll have little to no chance for a top-3 (or maybe even top-5) finish.
The only reasons I haven't given up hope are that (1) the club did make a bunch of good signings last year, and (2) I have to think that even this club realizes that they have to at least replace the players who have left. But I guess we'll find out soon enough....
Edit: Also (3) the club should have plenty of cash on hand from the outgoing transfers.
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I’ve no faith they are going to re-invest the money made from transfers back into the women’s team. There’s never been transparency on where the money made last summer through the World Sevens was spent for example.
Not on transfers that’s for sure. Hard to know for certain, but I reckon whatever money we spent on Zigiotti we made back in the Park/Clinton swap deal, and of course Rölfo was free. Between the W7S prize money from the last two years, the €1.3m in prize money we got in the Champions League last season, and now the €1m from selling Malard, we should be absolutely fine to spend big even without the owners putting a penny in themselves. We’ll hopefully see in a few weeks time when they head off to Spain for pre-season whether there is actually a plan to spend that money or not. Like you, I’m a bit sceptical.
https://www.manutd.com/en/news/kayla-rendell-joins-newcastle-united-on-loan-2026-27-1
Makes sense given our signing of another keeper.
Makes sense given our signing of another keeper.
Symonds signed a new contract at Brighton. So thats another of the more exciting WSL transfers we could make off the table
I'm starting to think we're saving all our money for Jan when the Swedish season finishes again. But while those players do become available then, theyve also just played a full season so are probably tired
I'm starting to think we're saving all our money for Jan when the Swedish season finishes again. But while those players do become available then, theyve also just played a full season so are probably tired
I sure hope not. Only one of our three winter signings last year had much of any impact. Lundqvist (fortunately) slotted right in, but I don't know if that's just because she was given a lot of minutes right from the get-go (out of necessity), or because her position is one that is easier to translate from one squad to another, or something else, but I would certainly prefer any new signings to participate in as much preseason as possible so they're better prepared to contribute from day 1.
For those of us (including me) who have been worried about the relative lack of new signings so far in this transfer window, it might be encouraging to consider when we made our three signings last summer:
Julia Zigiotti Olme: July 31
Fridolina Rolfö: August 15
Jess Park: September 5
It is July 30 as I write this, so the Medina signing actually puts us ahead of last year's schedule. This makes me more optimistic about what might happen in the current window.
Julia Zigiotti Olme: July 31
Fridolina Rolfö: August 15
Jess Park: September 5
It is July 30 as I write this, so the Medina signing actually puts us ahead of last year's schedule. This makes me more optimistic about what might happen in the current window.
I’ve never felt he’s good enough and yet his reason for leaving makes out that it is the club who are not good enough for him. Not the best situation and I think it could have a negative impact on our squad if not addressed adequately.
So in the spirit of silly season and the news today (more about our transfer strategy than Skinner leaving), and given that we don't seem to be signing anyone, who could be on the way out still?
Looks like George, Terland and Toone both had 1 year options to 2027 activated. Terland hasn't signed a contract yet I believe and there have been exit rumours, so potentially one to watch. Toone I'm now expecting to leave if not this summer then next. George may stick around as she'll be less expensive and is homegrown-ish.
Looking at some of our other major players:
Rolfo - 2027
Janssen - 2027 (+1)
Zigiotti Olme - 2027 (+1).
Sandberg - 2027 (+1).
PTJ - 2028
Le Tissier - 2028
Riviere - 2028 (+1)
Hinata - 2029
Thank feck Hinata is signed long term at least. Rolfo and Janssen I'd expect to go next year tbh, and can bet people will put some testing bids in for the likes of PTJ and Le Tissier.
Looks like George, Terland and Toone both had 1 year options to 2027 activated. Terland hasn't signed a contract yet I believe and there have been exit rumours, so potentially one to watch. Toone I'm now expecting to leave if not this summer then next. George may stick around as she'll be less expensive and is homegrown-ish.
Looking at some of our other major players:
Rolfo - 2027
Janssen - 2027 (+1)
Zigiotti Olme - 2027 (+1).
Sandberg - 2027 (+1).
PTJ - 2028
Le Tissier - 2028
Riviere - 2028 (+1)
Hinata - 2029
Thank feck Hinata is signed long term at least. Rolfo and Janssen I'd expect to go next year tbh, and can bet people will put some testing bids in for the likes of PTJ and Le Tissier.
That reads like a pretty depressive post …
Well it's not optimistic I'll give you that
Does feel like the way things are going, though. We don't pay big or have the clear ambition to fight for trophies to keep stars here, and have shown after the Russo, Batlle and Earps episodes that we'll cash in early now instead.
He’s the Eddie Howe of the women's league. Left us due to lack of investment into the team at the same time many supporters weren’t happy with him.
Yea, I read you. We need to give some people a kick up the Nicky Butt.Well it's not optimistic I'll give you that
Does feel like the way things are going, though. We don't pay big or have the clear ambition to fight for trophies to keep stars here, and have shown after the Russo, Batlle and Earps episodes that we'll cash in early now instead.
All falling apart really
From the Athletic article. Going from the dates I wrote above that would, you'd think, have to be either Terland or Toone...
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
So from next season they are going to fill the team with youngsters and hope for the best
Damn. Would have been nice to try and push on and take the team seriously, but just feels they would honestly rather wrap it than do that.
It’s getting to a stage where we need, well deserve at least, a club statement on what’s going on. We won’t get one though, they’ll just brush this under the carpet.