Football News: How Manchester United's Summer Is Shaping Up

With the players due back to start pre-season soon I thought this was a good time to reflect on how Manchester United's summer is shaping up.

We got off to a quick start with securing Cunha, a player who looks well suited to how Amorim wants to play and is EPL proven. While having just turned 26 he is entering his prime years. Given that our squad is mostly made up of young players who are a few years away from being able to be consistently putting in performances that can carry the team or older players who are in decline we are in need of signing at least 3 players in that 25-27 years old range ideally.

We also seem fairly close to sealing a deal for Mbeumo as well. Another player who fits the system well, is EPL proven and is that right age and level of experience. I don't think it's the total fee that is holding up the deal, rather how/ when the fee will be paid. The club has the ability to spend, but it has to be sensible about when payments go out to manage cashflow. I expect this deal to get sorted probably this week.

As for departures the news broke that Antony, Sancho, Rashford, Garnacho and Malacia will be given more time off to get moves sorted. This makes sense. They are all not going to be part of the squad one way or another next season. Having them there as part of the squad as we are in Amorim's first pre-season would only actually as a distraction and possibly cause tension and discord in a squad that the manager is trying to install the right mentality and togetherness needed.

The sooner the club can move these players on the better, the problem is that it can't come at a loss to the club so this is where the new management structure will really earn their stripes and prove themselves.

After Mbeumo is done it looks like a striker will be the next signing through the door. I don't think the door has entirely closed on Gyökeres, his comments weren't that he didn't want to join United, in fact the rumours seem to be that he would be open to the move. He just wants to give priority to a team that is more ready and capable of challenging for top honours. With given his age (27) is understandable. If Arsenal sign Sesko and end their interest in Gyökeres then I wouldn't be surprised to see a deal to bring him to us wrapped up fairly quickly. His situation with Sporting means they will want a quick resolution, and united will want to tie down to top target before anyone else has the chance to complicate things.

However, if Gyökeres moves elsewhere it seems the club have settled on Watkins as the next target for the striker position. While at 29 he is slightly older than the ideal age, he is EPL proven and more than capable of being the main man. Stylistically he also seems a really good fit. Incidentally he also used to play with Mbeumo at Brentford so maybe that would help them both settle in a little quicker. While with Obi looking like he will break into the first team squad sooner rather than later, actually signing a player who'll be first choice for the next 2-3 years while the 18 year old develops with that experienced guy training alongside him wouldn't be a bad thing.

The issue at striker is there are very few options available. All options seem to be a risk in one way or another. Either they are too expensive, injury prone, too old, too young, not the right profile of striker, or not good enough.

Mateta was another possible option for example, but he'd probably cost around the same as Watkins, is only a year younger and is nowhere near as proven or consistent at this level.

The club went for Højlund last time we signed a striker and couldn't get a top level player who had several years of proven quality and experience. That was a mistake, he has crumbled under the pressure. We have to learn from our mistakes and not go for the next up and coming striker if we can't get a proven one. We end up paying through the nose for that "potential" and like Højlund they might not be able to reach that potential under the pressure of playing for us.

Sometimes it's when you sign a player as much as which player. Would Cantona have become the United legend he is if we signed him as a 21 year old? Maybe, or maybe not. He became the player he did because of his experiences, change them and he would likely be a different player. Maybe if Højlund stayed at Atlanta for a another few years then joined us as a 24 year old, more mature, more experience to lean on, maybe with a different manager and with a different team around him then he might have been ready for the move and been a success.

We need a more experienced striker who is ready to take on the burden of leading the line and the pressure of being Manchester United's first choice striker.

Personally I like the idea of maybe signing Randall Kolo Muani on loan with an option or obligation to buy. He's a good age at 26, has good experience and is the right stylistic fit for Amorim. While if we can agree a loan deal that would potentially free up funds to reinforce in other positions this summer. That said he would be more of a risk than Gyökeres or Watkins, having never played in England.

After the striker signing I think we will look to bring in a midfielder and a keeper. The rumours for these positions are starting to appear which suggests the club are starting to make contact with potential targets and starting to line up possible deals.

The keeper I think will be a solid player rather than a clear first choice option. Someone who could challenge Onana for first choice but could also be our back up keeper long term. I don't see the club having the funds to spend big on a keeper nor do I see many top options worth spending big on. Unfortunately unless we can shift Onana (which is highly unlikely) then we won't be able to spend significantly in this position. While I think Onana absolutely needs replacing, I don't think he's been as bad as made out (he certainly hasn't been good), but he's not the reincarnation of Tiabi like he is being made out to be.

Midfield I think is the more interesting position. With Cunha and Mbeumo signing it looks like Bruno will play more minutes in midfield this season than he has previously. That might actually be a good thing, he has shown that he can be more measured and with less responsibility to be the man who makes or scores the goals he can focus more on the other parts of his game. He'll need to learn to be a little more disciplined positionally, but he has the engine, work rate, and passing quality to be successful. We do need the right partner for him. Mainoo I think is more an alternative to Bruno rather than a partner for him. Casemiro has the physical traits we need and defensive capabilities we need, but lacks the legs and mobility required to play alongside Bruno and to be able to cover for his positional lapses. Collyer could develop into that player, this season I think will be make or break for him. Ugarte is probably the best fit in our current squad. He lacks the heading ability that we need, and occasionally seems caught out by the relentless nature in the EPL. Like Mainoo I think he needs to work on his stamina over pre-season to increase his ground coverage.

What we need is a tall, strong, quick, mobile, and athletic midfielder who can do the dirty work; is technically sound and ideally can carry the ball through midfield with powerful forward runs.

Who that is remains a bit of a mystery, there are few standout obvious options, and loads of good slightly less proven options. Ideally they would be 23-25 years old, with a decent amount of experience and ready for a step up.

I don't think the club will have the funds to spend big here if they've already spent 120m on Cunha and Mbeumo, as well as another 50-70m on a striker, and probably around 20m on a keeper. 30-40m is probably the most we can afford, ideally less. It might be that the scouting department will have to pull a rabbit out of the hat with this one, much like with the keeper. Can they find a good value option who ticks all the boxes but doesn't come with a premium price tag.

For me the midfield signing is the most interesting we will make this summer. It'll have to be the most creative signing, but it's a position that has the potential to be the most transformational in many ways. Maybe we get the forward line all sorted, and we get the defence and keeper organised, yet without the right midfield balance to sew it all together then the team will still be disjointed and will struggle. The perfect signing is probably Carlos Baleba, but that is an impossible signing this summer.

Written by Shappy July 05 2025 13:30:34