A Summer Review: Manchester United’s transfer window

September 1 signals an end of summer in England; the disappearance of sunshine and a return to school. For the country’s football pyramid , it generally marks the close of the transfer window as the dust settles on club’s wheeling and dealing and the reality of the new season is locked in.

This summer’s window was INEOS’ first at the helm at Old Trafford following the ratification of Sir Jim Ratcliffe as the new co-owner of Manchester United in February.

The British billionaire and his team’s initial focus was to install a ‘best-in-class’ executive structure to lead their revolution at their new club. Deals for Omar Berrada (Chief Executive), Dan Ashworth (Sporting Director), Jason Wilcox (Technical Director) and Christopher Vivell (Head of Recruitment) were all agreed with the four executives beginning work in Manchester by July 1.

While there may have been an element of playing catch up, given the transfer window opened on June 14, there was little time wasted by United’s new leaders as they efficiently and effectively executed two months of excellent business at Old Trafford.

Five players were signed; fourteen departed. There was also the capture of a number of highly-rated youth players to further buttress the club’s burgeoning academy talent.

A new deal for manager Erik ten Hag was tactfully managed with a one-year extension to his existing contract – an acceptance by both parties that last season was an unfortunate aberration for a variety of reasons, with the Dutchman getting the opportunity to work in the new environment INEOS had created.

A long-term commitment to Ten Hag has not necessarily been made, however; which makes sense given some of the issues United experienced last season were due to his underperformance as much as any of his players. A comprehensive overhaul of the 54-year-old manager’s coaching staff was also enacted.

Rene Hake replaced Mitchell van der Gaag as assistant manager with some players having felt the outgoing coach was too blunt and impersonable in his approach. Hake was joined by Ruud van Nistelrooy – the club’s legendary forward-turned-manager – in a similar capacity, as well as Jelle ten Rouwelaar (goalkeeping coach) and Andreas Georgson (technical coach). Darren Fletcher also joined the coaching team in a more clearly-defined manner than his ambiguous former role as technical director.

As a total package, it constitutes an enormous revamp at Old Trafford with upgrades found at every level of the club, be it in the youth team, senior team or executive branch. Even the most pessimistic of United fans cannot help but feel buoyed by the progress INEOS have achieved in six months compared to the years of neglect inflicted by incompetent Glazer rule.

In many ways, this summer has been a 10/10 when these various strands of improvement are factored in. But, if we analyse simply the transfer window for the first-team on its own, as this will be the most important area to bring about improvements to a team who finished 8th in the Premier League last season with a negative goal difference, does the perfect rating hold true?

Let’s dig in.

Incoming Transfers

• Leny Yoro (LOSC Lille) – £52 million with £6.75 million in add-ons

• Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna) – £35.8 million

• Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich) – £38.6 million with £4.3 million in add-ons

• Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich) – £12.8 million with £4.3 million in add-ons

• Manuel Ugarte (Paris Saint-Germain) – £42.2 million with £8.5 million in add-ons

Excluding add-ons from this list of five signings, as some are conditional and performance related (thus may never be paid), this brings United’s spending this summer to just over £180 million. This figure may rise over time, however.

• The standout deal of the window was Yoro – the 18-year-old centre-back signed from under the noses of Real Madrid. He is considered a generational talent in defence and is seen as a coup for INEOS in their first window at Old Trafford. While Yoro suffered a desperately unfortunate injury in only his second pre-season game, ruling him out for three months with a broken metatarsal, United officials feel he is a guaranteed superstar for the future.

8/10 – One for the future as much as the present but the fact Europe’s elite, including Madrid, PSG and Liverpool, were all desperate to sign the 18-year-old underscores how highly-rated he is within footballing circles. The price was exorbitant for a player with only one year left on his deal but this is likely the only means by which United could win the race for starlet. 

• Zirkzee, the 23-year-old striker who won Serie A Young Player of the Year last season, is a skilful 6’4 centre-forward. His skillset is complimentary towards the club’s existing young number nine, Rasmus Hojlund, and he is versatile, capable of playing as a second striker or out on the wing. The Dutch striker has already opened his goal-scoring account at Old Trafford with a last-minute winner on his debut against Fulham – a promising sign of things to come.

8/10  – United slightly overpaid Zirkzee’s release clause to allow for more favourable payment terms with Bologna, thus enabling business elsewhere. There are doubts over the 23-year-old’s mobility but he is a Swiss army knife of a striker who is joining a forward line with numerous gaps to fill. From this perspective, it would have been hard to find a more suitable option without paying far more. 

• De Lift and Mazraoui were signed in essentially what amounted to a double deal from Bayern Munich, though both transfers were separate. Both defenders have previously played under Ten Hag at Ajax and constitute significant upgrades on the players they are replacing in the United dressing room. The prices for both were excellent with United executives able to exploit their Bundesliga counterparts’ desperation to sell to strike bargain deals.

8/10 – Mazraoui – The fullback was United’s cheapest deal this summer and, if not for persistent injury concerns, he would likely be the club’s highest rated signing, given his ability to play at both right-back and left-back to high levels. The fact the Moroccan international is joining a defensive unit ravaged by injury last season knocks his rating down, however. 

9/10 – De Ligt – The Dutch centre-back was previously Ten Hag’s captain at Ajax at just 17. He has spent the last eight seasons playing for the biggest clubs in Holland, Italy and Germany, winning trophies wherever he has landed. While there are some doubts over why these elite clubs keep seeking to sell the former Golden Boy winner, the fact he is reuniting with the manager who he thrived the most under, in a position of need at Old Trafford, dismisses these concerns. The price United agreed for De Ligt, in comparison the one they were quoted for Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite, and the fact he is a world-class leader of the backline makes this the Red Devils’ best signing this summer. His age – 25 – also aligns perfectly with the 18-year-old Yoro and the pair will compliment, rather than hinder, each other. 

• Ugarte was the club’s most difficult signing to complete this summer. United only officially announced the Uruguayan international’s move with ninety minutes until Friday night’s 11pm deadline – nearly two months after the club first expressed an interest in the 23-year-old. Ugarte was the first-choice target in midfield with his combative style, predicated on pressing and counter-pressing, seen as key to the system Ten Hag is seeking to implement this season. The price was a reasonable one, though there is likely to be as much happiness in the PSG boardroom at the deal as there is at Old Trafford. Concerns persist over Ugarte’s ability with the ball, despite his strengths without it, and how his physicality will translate to the rigours of English football. He’s an undoubted upgrade on Scott McTominay, however, and is reported to have a fantastic attitude and a tireless workrate.

7/10 – The only deal of the summer where it feels as if United did not get the best of the negotiations but the lack of outstanding candidates on the market in defensive midfield will have forced the club’s hand in focusing on Ugarte. The fact Bayern, as an example, paid a similar price with less favourable terms for a 29-year-old Joao Palhinha from Fulham strengthens United’s decision to pursue Ugarte. The Uruguayan’s energy and tough-tackling style will make him an instant fan favourite; and if he can help Kobbie Mainoo continue his outstanding development, Ugarte’s rating will need to be quickly revisited. 

OVERALL RATING = 8.5/10 – De Ligt and Mazraoui were an excellent double act while winning the race to sign Yoro was a sign of the ambition INEOS want to reinstall at Old Trafford. Zirkzee looks the most sensible signing of the lot and, if Ugarte proves the executive branch’s obsession with him correct, this window will quickly become a 9 or even a 9.5. 

Outgoing Transfers

• Alvaro Fernandez (Benfica) – £5.1 million with £2.6 million in add-ons

• Mason Greenwood (Marseille) – £23.3 million with £3.4 million in add-ons

• Willy Kambwala (Villarreal) – £4.6 million with £5 million in add-ons

• Donny van de Beek (Girona) – £0.5 million potentially rising to £12.6 million with bonuses

• Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham) – £15 million

• Facundo Pellistri (Panathinaikos) – £5 million

• Will Fish (Cardiff City) – £2 million

• Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley) – £5.4 million with £4 million in add-ons

• Scott McTominay (Napoli) – £25.6 million

• Jadon Sancho (Chelsea) – Initial loan with obligation to buy between £20-25 million

• Omori Forson (Monza) – Free transfer

• Raphael Varane (Como) – Free Transfer

• Anthony Martial (Released)

• Brandon Williams (Released)

Excluding add-ons as, again, some are conditional and performance related, these fourteen departures account for £86.5 million in income. This number will rise significantly in the future, however. There were also a number of sell-on clauses negotiated in many of these deals, further increasing the likelihood that United will profit even more from these sales as time passes.

Furthermore, outside of McTominay, who has been significantly upgrade through Ugarte’s signing, none of these departures were first-team players. They were either background squad fillers or younger players with no route towards the starting eleven.

To have been able to command the best part of £100 million for a group unwanted or unneeded by the club is a testament to the new executive structure’s proficiency in the transfer market; and paints them in extremely flattering light compared to their predecessors. The excellent business United were able to conduct in terms of incoming transfers was only made possible by the equally impressive work the club conducted in terms of outgoing ones.

OVERALL RATING = 9.5/10 – A comprehensive clear-out has been long overdue at Old Trafford in recent years. INEOS wasted no time in recognising this and quickly set about culling a bloated United squad, accepting cheaper deals for undesirable players where necessary. To have effectively dealt with problem players such as Greenwood, Sancho and Van de Beek in one window (albeit for very different reasons), is a testament to the club’s new direction where if you are not wanted, you are not needed.

Despite spending over £180 million on five players this summer, the club concluded the window with a net spend under £100 million – a figure likely to improve as additional add-ons are triggered. Realistically, the only way the Red Devils could have achieved a perfect score this summer was if they’d been able to shift Antony, but even a Saudi Pro League club couldn’t be tempted to make an offer the bumbling Brazilian buffoon. 

Conclusion

It’s an emphatic 9/10 for INEOS in their first transfer window at Old Trafford.

To have shifted as much deadwood as they did, while signing five upgrades with a consistent profile of young, hungry and technically gifted in positions of need, and skilfully danced around the PSR struggles created by the previous regime, is a resounding success.

While the first-team squad is not complete by any stretch of the imagination, the state of it on June 13 meant when the transfer window opened a day later, it’s hard to envision a realistic scenario where United did much more than they could have to improve the team this summer.

The fact that these positive transfer dealings have been supplemented by improvements in the coaching staff, executive structure and a number of elite young talents signed for the academy, only strengthens the case for this 9/10 window.

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