What + who are our top summer 2026 targets?

We need a lot of players. How many are feasible, I’m not sure. I hope it’s:

3 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward
2 fullbacks
1 striker

I would guess:

2 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward

Would be immediate purchases (not dependent on sales), and:

1 midfielder (3rd)
2 fullbacks
1 striker

Would be completely reliant on sales and offloading big earners. Would not hesitate to look at free transfers and potential for the last lot.

For me:

3 midfielders : Anderson (if there’s any hope); Fernandes (dead cert move to); Garner. If not Anderson, then a lot of others come into play.
1 centre back: someone good!
1 wing-forward: an actual wing wizard who can dribble, has pace and a brain.
2 fullbacks: Hall or Kadioglu, Munoz
1 striker: Welbeck (despite his new contract) by far the best option, imo.
 
Maluco said:
Feels like CB, LB, 2-3 CMs, LW and CF are almost essential just to have sufficient numbers. Not great.
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Don’t see LB and LW, mind you in order to sign all that we need to look at players with one year left and free agents too.
 
croadyman said:
Don’t see LB and LW, mind you in order to sign all that we need to look at players with one year left and free agents too.
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I can’t see Shaw playing twice a week anymore, and you can’t handicap yourself by having no width on that side. So a LW or an LB is a must for me. We can’t go into the season with only Shaw and Dorgu as natural options on that side.
 
Fortitude said:
We need a lot of players. How many are feasible, I’m not sure. I hope it’s:

3 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward
2 fullbacks
1 striker

I would guess:

2 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward

Would be immediate purchases (not dependent on sales), and:

1 midfielder (3rd)
2 fullbacks
1 striker

Would be completely reliant on sales and offloading big earners. Would not hesitate to look at free transfers and potential for the last lot.

For me:

3 midfielders : Anderson (if there’s any hope); Fernandes (dead cert move to); Garner. If not Anderson, then a lot of others come into play.
1 centre back: someone good!
1 wing-forward: an actual wing wizard who can dribble, has pace and a brain.
2 fullbacks: Hall or Kadioglu, Munoz
1 striker: Welbeck (despite his new contract) by far the best option, imo.
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Club seem a bit blind to the RB problem, however wouldn't put it above any of the following

DM
CM
CM
ST
LB
 
Even more so now with de Ligt's surgery, I would be baffled if we didn't make an approach for Senesi on a free transfer.

Easily one of the best centre-backs in the PL this season and could have at least 2-3 good seasons left in him.
 
Maluco said:
I can’t see Shaw playing twice a week anymore, and you can’t handicap yourself by having no width on that side. So a LW or an LB is a must for me. We can’t go into the season with only Shaw and Dorgu as natural options on that side.
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Given a choice I would go LB, mind you we do also lack a tricky winger who could play both sides
 
horsechoker said:
I'd get a centre back having read the de list news.

However, we'd need a shrewd investment in a mid 20s player who could make the step up or a veteran available on a free (but with high wages) who can offer a lot of experience.

Isn't John Stones available?
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Been banging the Ezri Konsa drum and Ima keep banging it until we do or don’t sign him.
 
van Nistelrooy said:
Even more so now with de Ligt's surgery, I would be baffled if we didn't make an approach for Senesi on a free transfer.

Easily one of the best centre-backs in the PL this season and could have at least 2-3 good seasons left in him.
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Noises seem to say Spurs bound when they stay up
 
Fortitude said:
We need a lot of players. How many are feasible, I’m not sure. I hope it’s:

3 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward
2 fullbacks
1 striker

I would guess:

2 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward

Would be immediate purchases (not dependent on sales), and:

1 midfielder (3rd)
2 fullbacks
1 striker

Would be completely reliant on sales and offloading big earners. Would not hesitate to look at free transfers and potential for the last lot.

For me:

3 midfielders : Anderson (if there’s any hope); Fernandes (dead cert move to); Garner. If not Anderson, then a lot of others come into play.
1 centre back: someone good!
1 wing-forward: an actual wing wizard who can dribble, has pace and a brain.
2 fullbacks: Hall or Kadioglu, Munoz
1 striker: Welbeck (despite his new contract) by far the best option, imo.
Click to expand...
Would agree with positions we need signings in...but i think we only sign 4 + gk back up. Feeling they are going to target pl quality, overspend on 3cm and 1xlb.....and theoretically may actually only improve one position in our starting eleven....i mean look at the list of players youd like...its 250m possibly just on cm....improves one position. Fernandes doesnt for me start over mainoo or bruno, garner is probably £50m+ and doesnt start...not knocking as all decent choices bar garner personally...but i think we should ne looking at 2-3 key big signings for 2-3 different positions...the rest need to be shrewd cheaper deals under or around 40m
 
The list of what we need seems to grow week after week.

If we're being honest, we could do with an entirely new back line, two midfielders, and a CF.
 
Fortitude said:
We need a lot of players. How many are feasible, I’m not sure. I hope it’s:

3 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward
2 fullbacks
1 striker

I would guess:

2 midfielders
1 centre back
1 wing-forward

Would be immediate purchases (not dependent on sales), and:

1 midfielder (3rd)
2 fullbacks
1 striker

Would be completely reliant on sales and offloading big earners. Would not hesitate to look at free transfers and potential for the last lot.

For me:

3 midfielders : Anderson (if there’s any hope); Fernandes (dead cert move to); Garner. If not Anderson, then a lot of others come into play.
1 centre back: someone good!
1 wing-forward: an actual wing wizard who can dribble, has pace and a brain.
2 fullbacks: Hall or Kadioglu, Munoz
1 striker: Welbeck (despite his new contract) by far the best option, imo.
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RB Kayode (give Dorgu a run at LB)
CB Konsa
CM Garner & Fernandes (one more if Ugarte leaves)
ST Welbeck

We absolutely have to get midfield sorted and will sorely regret not getting a RB or CB in next season if we forego them as rumored.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
RB Kayode (give Dorgu a run at LB)
CB Konsa
CM Garner & Fernandes (one more if Ugarte leaves)
ST Welbeck

We absolutely have to get midfield sorted and will sorely regret not getting a RB or CB in next season if we forego them as rumored.
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If you're playing Dorgu at LB you 100% need a LW signing as well.
 
pascell said:
Ornstein saying 1 or 2 CMs if Urgarte goes, certainly put a dampener on my expectations.
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Nah the tweet misquoted him. He said midfield will be a focus this summer and “one or two players should be coming in there” even before Casemiro’s departure. It was more a summation of our squad and situation with Carrick being made permanent and his role in that. Basically saying we won’t be pulling a Liverpool this summer which we all already knew anyway.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
Nah the tweet misquoted him. He said midfield will be a focus this summer and “one or two players should be coming in there” even before Casemiro’s departure. It was more a summation of our squad and situation with Carrick being made permanent and his role in that. Basically saying we won’t be pulling a Liverpool this summer which we all already knew anyway.
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Ah fair enough. I'm hoping its more two will come in, then try and offload ugarte for the third CM to come in.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
Nah the tweet misquoted him. He said midfield will be a focus this summer and “one or two players should be coming in there” even before Casemiro’s departure. It was more a summation of our squad and situation with Carrick being made permanent and his role in that. Basically saying we won’t be pulling a Liverpool this summer which we all already knew anyway.
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Not a Liverpool, but we will spend a lot. This nonsense comes out every summer and the idea we've been prudent is laughable. We spent fecking 200m+ last summer.
 
Lash said:
Definitely and we're in a better position to add without selling first.
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Yeah a fair wedge of wages coming off the books as well. Don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to spend £250-300m this summer. Really need to grow the squad with quality in depth which was another of Ornstein’s points.
 
goldenboy said:
Or else you'll be expecting Cunha to play a full 90 minutes for 50+ matches in a season?...
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That’s assuming we’re married to the 4231 but I’m not so sure we will be. Carrick has already shown tactical flexibility on one or two occasions this season. If we add two quality midfielders (three if Ugarte leaves) and an experienced CB I could see us playing a midfield diamond or even (shock horror) 352 at times to get the best out of our forward options. Cunha and particularly Mbeumo would benefit from playing off Sesko and it would also give the fullbacks (Dorgu) more license to bomb forward.

If anything unlike the previous manager Carrick has shown he is willing and able to cater to his player’s strengths. I love wingplay as much as the next United fan but we just spent £130m on Cunha and Mbeumo last summer. Realistically we are not spending big on another winger/wide forward this summer. So Carrick will have to get the best out of them (and Amad) next season however he can IMO.
 
We are gonna be playing a lot of matches next season. We kinda forgot what it takes to compete on 4 stages at the same time.

And we should be getting rid of some of our sellable players such as Zirkzee and Ugarte. And losing Case, that's a minimum of 3 midfielders you need to replace.

We also desperately need a left back. Shop near by, go get Truffert or Kadioglu.


I'm expecting 5 players in.
 
Guys, I think they will look at Amir I as a midfielder off the bench. He's grown a lot the past year and an absolute beast in toughness and fitness. I think he is a smokey. I watched a doc on him recently and he feels more comfortable on playing 6-8 and picking up the ball. Very press resistant. He was viewed as a mini Rooney by some in terms of strength and detemination. He dedicates himself so much and was in awe of United and its history. It was on YouTube with russian subtitles. Being from Dagestan.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
I could see us playing a midfield diamond or even (shock horror) 352 at times to get the best out of our forward options
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There's a lot of mental gymnastics here.

Even if one somehow assumes Carrick will very occasionally do the above, when there isn't really much indication that he will, Cunha still won't be able to play every minute of every game where a 433 is preferred.

Having to change your entire formation every time one player has to leave the pitch or is unavailable is completely impractical and terrible planning.
 
goldenboy said:
There's a lot of mental gymnastics here.

Even if one somehow assumes Carrick will very occasionally do the above, when there isn't really much indication that he will, Cunha still won't be able to play every minute of every game where a 433 is preferred.

Having to change your entire formation every time one player has to leave the pitch or is unavailable is completely impractical and terrible planning.
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I agree.

So we know from Withwell that we are looking for two midfielders, a left back and a experienced striker. This means we are not planning to use Dorgu as a LB.

I think that if we will go for another position in the transfer market it will be right back (because we lack quality there) or a cb (because of de Ligt injury).
 
jesperjaap said:
Would agree with positions we need signings in...but i think we only sign 4 + gk back up. Feeling they are going to target pl quality, overspend on 3cm and 1xlb.....and theoretically may actually only improve one position in our starting eleven....i mean look at the list of players youd like...its 250m possibly just on cm....improves one position. Fernandes doesnt for me start over mainoo or bruno, garner is probably £50m+ and doesnt start...not knocking as all decent choices bar garner personally...but i think we should ne looking at 2-3 key big signings for 2-3 different positions...the rest need to be shrewd cheaper deals under or around 40m
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The counter argument would be that significant midfield improvements should make both our defence and our attack better, thus enhancing us all over the pitch. A more mobile midfield will provide better cover for our CBs. A more press resistant midfield with better passing options should give our attackers more of a platform to work from.

Generally agree though that we need reinforcements elsewhere too.
 
ericcovicc said:
I think that if we will go for another position in the transfer market it will be right back (because we lack quality there) or a cb (because of de Ligt injury).
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RB is literally the last outfield position which needs a signing. Dalot and Mazraoui are two capable options, and there are unlikely to be any clear gains in output from any new signing next season unless you break the bank for a Hakimi, which seems pointless given where money actually needs to be spent.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
That’s assuming we’re married to the 4231 but I’m not so sure we will be. Carrick has already shown tactical flexibility on one or two occasions this season. If we add two quality midfielders (three if Ugarte leaves) and an experienced CB I could see us playing a midfield diamond or even (shock horror) 352 at times to get the best out of our forward options. Cunha and particularly Mbeumo would benefit from playing off Sesko and it would also give the fullbacks (Dorgu) more license to bomb forward.

If anything unlike the previous manager Carrick has shown he is willing and able to cater to his player’s strengths. I love wingplay as much as the next United fan but we just spent £130m on Cunha and Mbeumo last summer. Realistically we are not spending big on another winger/wide forward this summer. So Carrick will have to get the best out of them (and Amad) next season however he can IMO.
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Ore we buy a LB because we really need a LB. Sometimes the obvious answers are the correct ones.
 
goldenboy said:
There's a lot of mental gymnastics here.

Even if one somehow assumes Carrick will very occasionally do the above, when there isn't really much indication that he will, Cunha still won't be able to play every minute of every game where a 433 is preferred.

Having to change your entire formation every time one player has to leave the pitch or is unavailable is completely impractical and terrible planning.
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Nonsense. Carrick employed variations of the 442 as well as a back 5 at Boro. 4231 is definitely his preferred formation but it’s also what’s made the most sense with our lack of midfield options this season. If we finally strengthen the spine of the team we could very well see more variance tactically next season to better utilize our forward options. In which case Cunha could rested with relative ease.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
At least Dorgu has potential at LB. Neither of our RB options are starting caliber.
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I agree entirely on that front - I’m intrigued to see how he can do there in Carrick’s system. But that doesn’t change the fundamental numbers: we’re short of options on the left flank so that will be a priority over the right flank.

I’ve been desperate for us to upgrade on Dalot for ages, but three senior players for two positions on the left flank when we’ll be in CL is way more of a concern right now.
 
Zumbi said:
I agree entirely on that front - I’m intrigued to see how he can do there in Carrick’s system. But that doesn’t change the fundamental numbers: we’re short of options on the left flank so that will be a priority over the right flank.

I’ve been desperate for us to upgrade on Dalot for ages, but three senior players for two positions on the left flank when we’ll be in CL is way more of a concern right now.
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Depends on who we bring in and how we utilize them. Mazraoui, Mount and our other wing options can play there as well in a pinch. Think we’ll see more tactical fluidity from Carrick next season as well.

The prospect of Dalot starting and Dorgu playing further forward next season is not encouraging from an attacking or technical perspective.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
Depends on who we bring in and how we utilize them. Mazraoui, Mount and our other wing options can play there as well in a pinch. Think we’ll see more tactical fluidity from Carrick next season as well.

The prospect of Dalot starting and Dorgu playing further forward next season is not encouraging from an attacking or technical perspective.
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Some players who are ill suited to playing there “in a pinch” should not be how we determine our transfer priorities. We very obviously need another player who can play on the left flank and so that’s what we’ll target.

The prospect of Dalot or Mazraoui having to fill in on the left because we’re short if numbers there is a worse prospect than them playing on the right where they’re more comfortable.
 
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