I don’t expect us to make any further first team signings unless an unexpected opportunity presents itself. I feel Baleba’s injury was the final nail in the coffin for any first team transfer business in this window.
Wot, no LB? (2026)
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I think you can make a reasonable argument that in the medium term it's sensible not to push the proverbial boat out at this moment in time. We apparently over-extended ourselves last summer, and previous years disasters means we're still paying off transfers from pre-INEOS. Ie, there's still some ways to go before we're back in 'financial juggernaut' territory. People seem to forget how close we were to actual financial problems a short while ago.
We had targets for the summer that have clearly been priced outside of our budget (Fernandes, Anderson perhaps, Hall) and that's totally fine. The old approach of creating an unsustainable financial burden by caving to selling clubs was wrong, this is smarter. Santos and Tielemans are very good signings, and our midfield already looks better than last season, with a relatively moderate outlay.
If there were obvious, available targets for other positions (LB, CF in particular) then we'd move on them, but there just aren't. Love Welbz, but he's 36, we shouldn't be lamenting missing out on players like that.
It's not exciting and not what the fans want to hear but we probably need a year of consolidation, which can give time for new targets to emerge, and Carrick to better understand the squad and how to use it. If we can manage to stay in the top 4 for the upcoming season, that should set us up incredibly well to finally get back to sustainable financial footing, and we can then be a bit more aggressive in the market.
We have a good number of talented attackers, a decent midfield now and options across the back four except for LB. I have to think the club will get someone in, even if just a loan/experienced option. Otherwise, let's see how the season goes. I expect development from all the signings last year, as well as Amad and Dorgu.
Biggest concern is that Bruno fades, but we do have Tielemans now who can pick up some of the burden.
We had targets for the summer that have clearly been priced outside of our budget (Fernandes, Anderson perhaps, Hall) and that's totally fine. The old approach of creating an unsustainable financial burden by caving to selling clubs was wrong, this is smarter. Santos and Tielemans are very good signings, and our midfield already looks better than last season, with a relatively moderate outlay.
If there were obvious, available targets for other positions (LB, CF in particular) then we'd move on them, but there just aren't. Love Welbz, but he's 36, we shouldn't be lamenting missing out on players like that.
It's not exciting and not what the fans want to hear but we probably need a year of consolidation, which can give time for new targets to emerge, and Carrick to better understand the squad and how to use it. If we can manage to stay in the top 4 for the upcoming season, that should set us up incredibly well to finally get back to sustainable financial footing, and we can then be a bit more aggressive in the market.
We have a good number of talented attackers, a decent midfield now and options across the back four except for LB. I have to think the club will get someone in, even if just a loan/experienced option. Otherwise, let's see how the season goes. I expect development from all the signings last year, as well as Amad and Dorgu.
Biggest concern is that Bruno fades, but we do have Tielemans now who can pick up some of the burden.
Another Monday, another whole lot of nothing. What are we doing...
Nobody is even bothered to make stuff up about us any more..
Based on the above we should just resort to being a mid table club.
Apparently we don’t need to worry at all. The modern football fan is only enamoured with shiny new things and there’s still plenty of time.
It is only August.
Ok, now can we start getting nervous. We really are being set up to fail.
The only saving grace in my mind is how we announced Tielemans out of the blue meaning there is fire without smoke sometimes. I want to be able to consider this window once it's finalised but even on an integration point it's disappointing that any signings by this point will have missed the majority of the pre-season with us.
Think at the minimum we need a LB and CM still as I don't trust Shaw or Mount's fitness.
Yeah good post, I do think a left back is important this summer though. Shaw probably won’t be about next season and it’ll be similar to this year where we end up getting our pants pulled down if we don’t do business now.
They also don’t have to be called ‘Lewis’ or ‘Hall’.
I still feel we have another 2 signings for a combined 80m. We will be around the cl places come the end of season, will be touch and go though
I agree. If we were any good at selling, maybe we could stretch the budget a bit more. That certainly has to improve. But I feel strangely ambivalent to other clubs spending 100+ million on players, and am quite happy with the business done till now. If we could add one or two more before the end of the window, it would be a really good one in my eyes. We could have swung big to close the gap to the top, but we usually fail when we try this. I think prioritising improving the floor of the squad is a good strategy. I worry about the goals in the squad, and hope that’s one area we can add to.
I think both of those seasons have a bit of an asterisk next to them, and it was two largely different reasons.
In 23/24 it was predominately ETH's tactics that had us playing so badly, with some of the most bizarre tactics ever seen with his donut formation. Play a more normal style and we would have finished comfortably higher. Then the overall performances (under both ETH and Amorim) were actually better in 24/25, but it was our absolutely horrific attack and keeper that caused us to finish even further down the table. The rest of our squad obviously deserved to be much higher but we were being sabotaged at both ends of the field. Hence why once we rebuilt the attack and bought in Lammens even Amorim had us up competing for CL spots before we fired him. That was how much damage our attack and keeper did to us the previous season.
I am worried about squad depth and how we'll manage with the extra games, but I don't think the terrible 23/24 and 24/25 seasons have much to teach us.
It’s time to start worrying. I do think we’ll bring in another couple of players this window, but timing is just as important as the signing. These signings need a preseason to acclimate to the club and manager. If we sign them right before the season starts, we are setting them up for a slow start and given our media scrutiny, setting them up to fail.
I watched quite a few Brugge Champion's League games last season, and I was not impressed by Seys at all. Tbh, more often than not he looked a bit of a liability and one of their worst players. He doesn't really seem to be excelling in the Jupiler Pro league either in the way that Lammens was.
I can't post links yet, but check out Arsenal's first 2 goals vs Brugge in the CL last season for an example. Highlights are easily available on youtube. First goal Madueke easily bullies Seys out the way. Second goal Seys is a statue at the back post, and leaves Madueke un-marked with a free header. Anyone watching that will instantly have second thoughts. I think he'll struggle in the PL.
Wharton doesn't make sense for United. Offers nothing defensively. United have fewer defensively solid CMs now than they do progressive passers. Santos, Tielemans and Mount are all good passers. Santos is the only decent defender. Wharton can't defend at all.
Camara is not that good. Was no one watching the World Cup?! If United were looking at Monaco for a DM, they should have signed Aladji Bamba instead; could have a higher ceiling, but has already gone to Newcastle.
Wanting to sign a profile missing in squad is not shiny new toy territory but that's just my opinion
I’m curious how you think that
Concerned but not gonna let it get to me
Shaping up to be an intriguing last few weeks, even if it is for 'non marquee' players
We were sitting in 6th at the time he was fired after 20 games, equal on points with the team above us but behind on goal difference. If he'd maintained the same points per game over the remaining 18 games we would have finished 5th, qualifying for the CL.
Now obviously there's no guarantee we would have actually finished there, but we were clearly competing for it.
Except we were also 4 points from 14th. Two losses (which we looked well on our way to get) against City and Arsenal would have had us bottom half. It was a year where everyone sucked and being level on points at 5th was mid table in other years
"A couple of players" ? At this point one panic buy after matchday 2 is the maximum I can imagine.
We should have brought a a left back and back up striker in weeks ago.
Were never signing backup striker unless Zirkzee went
I think we won't sign a backup striker unless Zirkzee AND Rashford leave. You might not notice but we're skint
What happened to Chido-Obi btw? He was last year's future Van Basten according to INEOS
Salinas - 17m left back
Page - 4m - 3rd CM
Thompson - 4m Left Wing
Rashford - backup #9.
All 6 signings done. All hail Sir Jim.
Page - 4m - 3rd CM
Thompson - 4m Left Wing
Rashford - backup #9.
All 6 signings done. All hail Sir Jim.
He was 16. I don’t think anyone thought he was anything other than what he is, a promising youth player.
But then you're picking a moment where we would have played the top two teams twice and most of the other weaker teams only once. Also can't just presume we would have lost, as his record against those two teams was surprisingly not too bad. Only lost three times in the seven matches we faced them, with one of those being the match Arsenal somehow won despite us being comfortably better (due to a goalkeeper mistake, just to put more emphasis on how much that position was hurting us).
It feels like I'm defending Amorim, which isn't my intention as he obviously wasn't good enough.
My point though was about how big a difference just changing the attack and keeper made. We went from getting 27 points in 27 games under Amorim in 24/25 (42 points in 38 games if we include ETH's time) to 31 points in 20 games in 25/26. Scoring 32 goals in those first 27 games, to 34 goals in the 20 games. Amorim himself obviously wasn't doing anything different considering his refusal to change, so that improvement was predominately due to replacing one of the absolute worst attacks and keepers in the league with strong options in both. The rest of our squad was at a decent enough level the entire time...not great, but nowhere near as bad as our results and position on the ladder indicated.
That is true. Most of our issues from 2022-2025 were coaching focused not squad focused.
Regarding Amorim, even this vaulted 31 points from 20 games is only 1.5 point per game. That's not anywhere near competing for CL spots, let alone getting it comfortably which we ended up doing in the end.
While it is very furstrating, but I do agree with the posters sentiment.
We literally cannot fix our problems with the tools that created the problem in the first place. Pretty much nothing has changed in the ownership model. Glazers aren't suddenly going to have a change of heart and go and drop a load of their own capital to pay off the debts AND strengthen the squad. (actually dont think they can do that either), they have never done it thus far, why would they change now. I dont see Sir Jim buying another set of shares or pumping In significant cash that would allow for more players inbound.
Whether we like it or not the squad is not balanced. I'd say it's better than what it was but still not balanced. Maybe a season of consolidation and let us know the true value of the likes of Lacey, Fletchers etc If they are good enough to perform and contribute in the Prem and Europe then is that a bad thing ?
The two things the relentlessly optimistic people on the forum fail to understand every freaking summer, and have been denying every summer since the end of May:
Just be honest and say: our budget is £100m, and that’s the reality we have to work with.
Like every United fan, I never liked or respected the Glazers or Woodward, but the Jim/Berrada/Wilcox trio is even worse. We are on path of becoming new Spurs.
- Comparisons what our rivals do during the summer. Man City and Arsenal have built squads. They’re just adding one or two players to what they already have. That means they can spend the entire summer pursuing their targets. We needed to bring in 5–6 players this summer. With two weeks to go before the start of the season, we have two players — neither of whom, according to reports, was even an A or B option at the end of the season.
- Timing. Bringing a player in early is not the same as bringing one in at the end of August. As things stand, whoever we sign now probably won’t be ready to play in the first few games.
Just be honest and say: our budget is £100m, and that’s the reality we have to work with.
Like every United fan, I never liked or respected the Glazers or Woodward, but the Jim/Berrada/Wilcox trio is even worse. We are on path of becoming new Spurs.
We had the best transfer window in 20 years last summer. I think you're overreacting a bit.
I''d say it was was both coaching and squad, but only in the sense that our manager (ETH) completely fumbled the rebuild and by the end created a team with a relegation level attack and keepers. It's why even in 24/25 when he went back to quite a normal 4231 formation and a general playstyle not much different than what he did in his first season, we simply couldn't get results. And that was the one period where Onana was actually playing well, so it was really just the attack being useless. Then Onana also shit the bed again and made it even worse in the second half of that season.
31 points in 20 games becomes 59 points in 38 games which would have seen us finish 5th, two points ahead of Bournemouth. Not that I'm confident we would have actually got it, but I do expect we'd have been close.
come on.. we've spent 30m net? SURELY we're about to see some transfers in the next 3 weeks right?
right?
right?
I wouldn’t hold my breath
that'd be our lowest spend summer in a decade at least? For all the modern data driven approach, meticulous planning, best in class analytics - surely they realize how vulnerable our squad is once we start playing games every three days?
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No one saw Tielemans happening. Could be a couple of quiet deals going on.
I think that's the main disconnect. I saw majority of fans believing we were gonna spend 150-200M+ this summer, while our actual net spend will probably be ~100M
But then it makes the targeting of the likes of Anderson, Fernandes, Tchouameni and Hall farcical. Really makes you think what their plan is.
I dont think anybody minds if our first choice target is a 30M player instead of a 70M player, if that's the better option. I think fans mind if the only reason we are going for the cheaper option is because its cheap.
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We aren't being set up to fail for gods sake. Such a bunch of drama queens on here clucking for transfers every day. Look at how solid and together we've looked on the pitch since Carrick has come in. Preseason has been good without our best player. We've replaced Casemiro and Ugarte with 2 better players and one for the future if Page comes in. We need a left back who isn't going to come in and instantly demand shaws spot but who will be ready to step in when needed. Salinas and Seys look like decent backup options who could become solid players at compelling prices
We aren't becoming Everton or some other midtable club. We are still paying Rashford Onana and Bruno champions league winning type money when we are nowhere near that and haven't ever been post Fergie, why are we doing that when are barely a CL team these days? The club is getting ripped off by players who didn't really move the needle for us for a long enough time, Bruno excluded, he's actually worth it.
What they are trying to do is develop an improving and ambitious squad on solid top 4 money where you're truly getting what you're paying for. Not spending 300k a week on one or two more players just to finish 3rd or 4th again and be left with no flexibility. This is how you build a solid foundation that won't fluctuate on the whims or form of one or two players at any given time
This is the only way to correct the poor leadership of the past. Do I wish ineos were just going to come in and write everything off for us debts and all? Who wouldn't but they are being practical which is already a hell of a lot better than whatever you'd call what the glazers have been supposedly doing. What they did was slowly let the club die and placate the muppets with an ill thought out big transfer and the old massive wages here and there. It clearly wasn't working. We don't have the money to battle it out with city for players so we are using data to get an edge back on overlooked players or players who are ready to take the next steps in their carear. This is a kind of austerity but it's one 99% of clubs wish they could have because we are going to be competitive this year whoever we sign, make no mistake about it.
We aren't becoming Everton or some other midtable club. We are still paying Rashford Onana and Bruno champions league winning type money when we are nowhere near that and haven't ever been post Fergie, why are we doing that when are barely a CL team these days? The club is getting ripped off by players who didn't really move the needle for us for a long enough time, Bruno excluded, he's actually worth it.
What they are trying to do is develop an improving and ambitious squad on solid top 4 money where you're truly getting what you're paying for. Not spending 300k a week on one or two more players just to finish 3rd or 4th again and be left with no flexibility. This is how you build a solid foundation that won't fluctuate on the whims or form of one or two players at any given time
This is the only way to correct the poor leadership of the past. Do I wish ineos were just going to come in and write everything off for us debts and all? Who wouldn't but they are being practical which is already a hell of a lot better than whatever you'd call what the glazers have been supposedly doing. What they did was slowly let the club die and placate the muppets with an ill thought out big transfer and the old massive wages here and there. It clearly wasn't working. We don't have the money to battle it out with city for players so we are using data to get an edge back on overlooked players or players who are ready to take the next steps in their carear. This is a kind of austerity but it's one 99% of clubs wish they could have because we are going to be competitive this year whoever we sign, make no mistake about it.
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Which I guess would have been considered a success in that timeline. But boy I'm glad we're not in it. Things are much better in this one where I genuinely am not worried about us making top 4 next year. The man could barely win 2 games in a row and never managed 4 wins in a row for ffs.
I fully agree but I just don’t think we are spending big money this month. We might get that guy from Leicester , can’t think of his name (young mid)
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