Heading into the summer transfer window, the expectation outside of Manchester United was that this was a club ready to splash the cash.
A third-place finish – and crucially a return to Champions League football – was to be supplemented by a record-breaking access fee for Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary, a record training kit sponsorship with Betway, upticks in sponsorship deals with existing partners and huge salaries for the likes of Casemiro and Jadon Sancho now officially off the books.
All signs pointed to a £200million midfield rebuild, with players of the quality of Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Mateus Fernandes and Aurelien Tchouameni on the shortlist, to help transform United back into one of England and Europe’s elite.
After the club’s newlook recruitment team hit the mark with four summer signings a year ago, transforming the club’s fortunes in attack and in goal, excitement was through the roof.
But now, as United’s players and staff enjoy a five-day training and team-bonding retreat in Ireland, fingers are again being pointed at the powers-that-be by supporters.
Just how serious are you about competing with the very best?
Man United’s decision-makers (from left to right) Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox are starting to come under pressure from fans over a lack of transfer activity
Actions speak louder than words
There are a handful of things that Ineos and the decision-makers at Manchester United love.
They love to tell supporters about the ‘clear plan’ to take them back to contending for Premier League titles. They love self-imposed frugality and how that shift in approach no longer leaves United open to being a pawn in the game of chess that is the transfer window. And they love project players in the mould of Chido Obi, Ayden Heaven, Sekou Kone, Enzo Kana-Biyik, Diego Leon, Cristian Orozco and Tynan Thompson.
‘We have a clear plan,’ director of football Jason Wilcox said back in October. ‘I am sure there are going to be bumps in the road but we have just got to make sure we stay calm irrespective of the noise outside.’
Only this summer, that same phrase was repeated by chief executive Omar Berrada through the club’s internal podcast arm Inside Carrington.
‘We have a clear plan,’ Berrada said. ‘[Director of football] Jason Wilcox and his team are well set up to execute that plan.
‘What we saw last season is a good way forward for us. We want a mix of experience and youth. A mix of players who have demonstrated they can perform in the Premier League and players that are doing very well outside the Premier League.
‘Whatever decisions we take will not just be for the short term but the long term.’
The issue Manchester United are facing is that talking about a plan doesn’t represent fun for supporters.
Restraint isn’t fun. Projects tend to be a slow process that take years to pay off, with the likes of Leon, Orozco and Kana-Biyik some way off first team football.
Fans of any club crave the dopamine rush a new transfer provides. The transfer window has become an addictive loop of rumour and reward, and the absence of business quickly causes inquests online.
And there is some legitimacy to the frustrations of many United fans. They didn’t get Anderson, their undisputed No 1 target. He ended up at Manchester City in a £116million record-breaking deal for an English midfielder. An obvious ‘bump in the road’, as Wilcox put it.
They didn’t get Mateus Fernandes, a player that felt much more attainable internally before the finances involved exploded and Ineos’ frugality kicked in. He ended up at Tottenham Hotspur for £85million. United were frustrated that the player didn’t push more to end up at Old Trafford.
Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali have both long been admired but figures close to both parties have explained to Daily Mail Sport how any hope United would get close to the financials to land one of Newcastle’s star men was quickly extinguished under their new, more austere regime. They ended up at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur for a combined £175million.
‘We have to be really disciplined. We have a plan, we know what we can invest and we need to stick to it,’ Berrada added back in June. ‘In some cases, we may decide to make an investment knowing it is the right thing, not for the next two or three years but the next ten.
‘We need to stay very focused on what we are trying to achieve. It’s very important you don’t let the market or the agents dictate what we should be doing.’
The final line is the kicker. In a market where the base price for a good-to-great Premier League midfielder is around £75-80million, United are determined not to fall into the traps of the previous regime, where big-money signings would lead to years of expensive repayments, all for little-to-no on-pitch success.
United pivoted to Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans, triggering his release clause. It was a smart signing
As was the addition of Andrey Santos from Chelsea. But United need more numbers in midfield
So, United pivoted. First to Andrey Santos, a player United first brought up to Chelsea when the terms of Alejandro Garnacho’s move were discussed a year ago, before finally getting him for £50million earlier this summer.
Then it was Youri Tielemans, triggering his £35million release clause. Having landed the Premier League’s official ‘Signing of the Season’ in Senne Lammens last term, internally there is a belief that his fellow Belgian Tielemans can make it two-for-two in 2026-27.
Both are smart signings with huge upside. Adding to Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Sesko and Lammens, Ineos can point to a track record of their way being a successful one.
Internally, too, there has been a real eagerness to no longer be seen as a club that can be ripped off, a club that agents can manipulate or bully. This was one of the main reasons they didn’t cave on their valuation of Jorge Mendes client Fernandes when Tottenham upped the ante.
The desire to limit leaks is stronger than ever, too. Wilcox and Berrada have placed immense emphasis on acting in the shadows and out of the court of public opinion. The Tielemans signing appeared to outsiders to come from nowhere, much to the delight of bosses.
They have been decisive in moving on from Rasmus Hojlund, in getting all the wages covered in the loans for Andre Onana (Trabzonspor) and Altay Bayindir (Celta Vigo), and insiders believe United are close to escaping the dreaded cycle of being seen as a poor recruiter, blinded by star power.
But with three weeks left to go in this transfer window, Ineos and United’s decision makers are at a crossroads.
It’s an expensive market and Michael Carrick needs more. With Champions League football on the horizon, and the first seven games coming in a 29-day stretch, Carrick needs help.
United proved against Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg that they are ready to be aggressive on the pitch, with their exciting style of play. The question now is, can Ineos be aggressive off it?
With his team set to play seven games in the first 29 days of the new season, Michael Carrick needs more quality players to call upon
So, where do they need to strengthen?
Signing a left back is absolutely essential.
Two enquiries to Newcastle United for Lewis Hall – both strongly rebuffed – show that United know that, too.
For as much credit as Luke Shaw deserves for starting every single Premier League game last season, asking him to replicate it amid the added strain of European football feels like wishful thinking.
The options in front of United are to make a big play for Hall, a player that could be United’s and England’s left back for the next decade. Newcastle will want record money for a full back. That won’t change.
Or there is the youth route, promoting Harry Amass, who has looked bright during pre-season. Yet he has been told his best chance for regular game-time is elsewhere. United are understood to be open to both loan and permanent deals.
And then there is the cheap option of keeping faith with Shaw and leaning on Noussair Mazraoui, who plays left back for Morocco, in case of injury.
Luke Shaw deserves credit for starting every Premier League game last season. But to expect him to do the same in 2026-27 feels like wishful thinking
Lewis Hall would be an ambitious and exciting signing at left back. But United’s efforts so far haven’t extended beyond an enquiry
Only one of those three options would signal that United are heading towards the very top, and it’s not options two or three. Patrick Dorgu, despite being listed as a defender in every squad list, is only seen as an option further forward on the wing.
Then there is the conundrum of the midfield, and whether United do or don’t need a third recruit in that area (they do).
Mason Mount, who has been a huge success across pre-season, came off in Gothenburg after 20 minutes and that highlighted the fragility of United’s side just a fortnight out from the season.
Mount is popular with every manager he plays under but his reliability is an issue. He has started just 25 league games since joining United for £55million three years ago.
Tielemans, as exciting a signing as he is, missed over 20 games with injury last season.
Manuel Ugarte is a long-term absentee and the plan was to move him on. Casemiro has gone. Santos is a smart addition and Kobbie Mainoo will rightly be an important figure. But United need another body. Shifting too much onus, too soon onto the likes of Tyler Fletcher, who is expected to be the young midfielder United place the most effort into developing for the first team this season, is unfair.
‘For us to get in the top four and consistently challenge for Champions League places, win the Champions League, win the Premier League, we have got to invest in the squad,’ Wilcox said back in that October sit-down. ‘We have got to buy the right players.’
And so far they’ve done that. Of the 13 first-team signings to this point under Ineos, only Ugarte has proven a major disappointment.
In bringing in (from left) Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha last summer, Ineos worked wonders in the transfer market. But they need to be more active this time around
But if Project 150 – the stated aim of winning the Premier League title by 2028 in United’s 150th anniversary year – is legitimate and not just a piece of catchy PR, United face a defining three weeks to set the tone for where they are going.
Ineos deserve trust and patience to navigate ‘bumps in the road’ after their success in moving on the deadwood, bringing down the wage bill, transforming the team’s fortunes with hits in the transfer market, and committing to plans for a new stadium.
But patience doesn’t last for ever and if, in three weeks’ time, United are still light in midfield, relying on Shaw as a sole left back option, and there is no back-up to Sesko, don’t be surprised if many fans’ patience has run out.
