Manchester United won their second preseason game 5-0 against Rosenborg in Trondheim, Norway, on Friday, and will play a further four games in Sweden, Ireland and Poland against Atletico Madrid, PSG, Leeds United and AC Milan before the Premier League returns.
United finished third last season after interim coach Michael Carrick improved the team when he took over from Ruben Amorim in January, taking them from seventh into a Champions League place with an average points per game ratio that would have been good enough to win the league had it been matched over 38 games. United have got into a habit of winning again and want that to continue, though it’ll be far tougher this season with the extra matches in the Champions League and, fans would hope, domestic cup competitions.
Football-wise, if not financially, United benefitted from no European football last season and only two domestic cup games. This term will be very different and United need to build for this since the current squad is unbalanced. Brazilian midfielder Casemiro has left having been a key player as well as a top earner, but his departure is not the only area which needs to be addressed.
United were busy in 2025 in the transfer market bringing in five players for significant fees. Rarely, given signing players for one of the world’s biggest clubs is not scientific, all were a success.
Signings so far have been Brazilian defensive midfielder Andrey Santos from Chelsea for £48 million plus £2 million probable add ons. Santos, 22, needs to get to full fitness, but he’s impressing so far by what he does off the ball – screening, anticipating and reading the game – as much as what he does on it. United feel that while he’s not the perfect signing given his lack of Premier League experience, but feel that he has an amazing football brain.
Belgium captain Youri Tielemans, 29, has also signed, with United smart in acting on his release clause at Aston Villa. The move for him was kept hush-hush not to alert potential rivals going for the midfielder.
Tielemans is considered an all-round midfielder who can create, and is good with the ball for a team which loses it too much, and he’s also playing the best football of his career. The new pair will join Kobbie Mainoo, 21, in midfield. The Mancunian barely featured under Amorim and had a loan request refused, but he’s been key under Carrick, if not Thomas Tuchel for England. Mainoo is expected to improve and learn from his negative experience at the World Cup to motivate him further.
The club have long had their targets to rectify the squad’s imbalances. It’s frustrating when they don’t come off, but there’s a budget and financial discipline after previous profligacies and unsuccessful signings.
The club insist that they need to be smart and disciplined in the transfer market and have lost out on targets in a market which has gone crazy. That includes Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, who moved to Manchester City for a record £116 million, West Ham’s Mattheus Fernandes, 21, who moved to Tottenham Hotspur for £85m and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers will move to Chelsea for a new British record £117m, but it should be noted that similar noises were heard a year ago about a lack of funds only for United to sign striker Benjamin Sesko for big money. The Slovenian, 23, who enjoyed a productive first season, has been injured but is back training on the grass. He’s bulked out and looks muscular in training pictures, but is expected to slim down as he starts full training again.
United hoped to sign another Brazilian, Ederson, from Atalanta in Italy and terms were agreed. The Old Trafford club felt they had an excellent deal, signing him for a reasonable fee given he only had a year of his contract left, but an issue was flagged in a first medical and United decided not to go ahead.
United want another midfielder and to strengthen the left side, specifically at left back where Luke Shaw is the only established performer, though Moroccan Noussair Mazraoui can switch. Lewis Hall, 21, of Newcastle United is a target and United wouldn’t target players if they didn’t think they didn’t want to move to Old Trafford. Shaw, 31, is in a situation like Harry Maguire a year ago and playing for a new contract. Shaw’s 12-year United career has been afflicted by injury but he played more games than any other teammates last term and was an important performer.
Goalkeeper Radek Vitek, 22, outstanding on loan at Championship club Bristol City last season, is available for sale to bring in funds, but the average sale price of a Championship goalkeeper over the last five years is less than £1 million. Vitek could play higher and there could be interest from abroad.
Real Madrid gave United target Aurelien Tchouameni, 26, a three-year contract extension and improved wages in part because they didn’t think Manchester City’s Rodri was available to them. Then Madrid understood that Spain’s World Cup winning captain could be. If Madrid are to buy big then they need to sell big. The Spanish club are looking at multiple transfer operations right now and, should they choose to try to sell him, Tchouameni’s contract extension could help them ask for a higher fee since he previously only had two years left and they did not want him to leave for free.
United have long admired Tchouameni and have understood that the midfielder is very happy at Madrid, but would leave if they didn’t want him and is open to the idea of playing for United. Tchouameni’s higher wages and transfer fee would be the significant issues which would need to be resolved. United have been offered other lower profile midfielders who’ve only played in Spain but were aware of the transition time of leaving one league and playing in the Premier League, the toughest in the world.
The English giants don’t have that time for players to settle in, but then the club also don’t have the budget to go and buy multiple top Premier League players as they did for much of the time under Sir Alex Ferguson. At least not until United can play regular Champions League football again.
The start to the season could be worse in terms of opposition and Carrick’s side has serious attacking potential. Mattheus Cunha can operate between three roles on the left and centrally. Mason Mount can drop into different roles. Amad and Bryan Mbuemo prefer the right. Bruno Fernandes is coming off the best season of his career.
And then there’s Marcus Rashford, 28. As the days go by, it’s increasingly likely that Rashford will return and stay as a United player. That was thought highly improbable following a successful season on loan at Barcelona. Rashford wanted to stay with the Catalans, but they didn’t exercise the option to pay a €30 million transfer fee for him which expired on June 15. Barcelona have also bought Antony Gordon who plays in the same position and another wide forward, Karim Adeyemi.
Rashford’s wages are among the highest in football, boosted by a Champions League bonus. Any suitors would need deep pockets and that heavily increases the chances of him staying at Old Trafford where manager Michael Carrick is open to the idea.
The football side of the club can focus on the football now. In the second half of last season, they ran two processes simultaneously, one on transfer targets and one to decide who the next manager should be which involved looking at all available options. The latter is now settled with Carrick, who is so calm that little seems to trouble him.
The football side has new structures, a clear plan from academy to the first team. Academy recruitment had been substantial with players signed from major rivals. That will continue, but the gap needs to be reduced between the academy teams and the first team. Several of the young players who have performed in the preseason so far will be allowed out on loan to continue their development. Younger players already in the first team, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, should continue to improve. Both need minutes, Yoro needs to improve in the air and Heaven, who was excellent when thrown in at Chelsea in an April Premier League win, needs to be patient, but United should have significantly more games this season.
The Old Trafford club need to be better sellers to raise significant funds as rivals have done, but were hindered when Manuel Ugarte, who could have been sold, ruptured a cruciate ligament while playing for Uruguay in the World Cup. Attacker Joshua Zirkzee, who scored an excellent individual goal against Rosenborg but has failed to perform to the required standard in the two seasons since he joined from Bologna, could move and there’s interest in the Dutchman from several Italian clubs.
United are not concerned that Lisandro Martinez’s injury which saw him leave the field in the World Cup final is a serious one and the Argentinian should be fine for the start of the season. Fellow central defender Mathijs de Ligt is expected to take a little longer, perhaps autumn, after a back operation meant he hasn’t played in the Premier League since last November.
United have improved and that trend should continue, but it’s a steady build that requires patience, savvy and regular Champions League football.
