How successful can a transfer window be if you do not fill the highest priority position with the first-choice target that you spent practically all summer chasing? Still moderately successful, it turns out. For a long time it felt like Manchester United’s summer would be defined by whether or not they could sign Frenkie de Jong. Yet at 11pm on September 1, not long after a third straight win for Erik ten Hag’s side, De Jong, Barcelona and the matter of those deferred wages felt like a distant memory.
That is despite the fact that, even after spending £229m – a club record for a single window – Ten Hag could perhaps still do with a midfielder. A centre-forward would not go amiss either, and the late interest in a potential switch at right-back suggested he and the club feel there is room for improvement there too. On the back of last season and their lowest points tally of the Premier League era, United’s rebuild was always going to be a big job. It is underway and there has been progress, but with the deadline now passed, the job remains unfinished.
That does not automatically make it a failure, though. United’s six incomings have strengthened the squad on the whole and, when split down the middle, they tell the story of a transfer window of two halves. Tyrell Malacia was the first through the door, arriving relatively late on 5 July. Christian Eriksen followed on a free transfer that was delayed due to the need for a thorough medical screening. Lisandro Martinez was the last to arrive before the start of the season proper, in a deal rising to a potential €67m (£58m).
It was on the morning of United’s opening game of the new Premier League season against Brighton and Hove Albion that news broke of talks with Bologna for Marko Arnautovic, who worked under Ten Hag at Twente. If that sounded underwhelming before kick-off, it was viewed as an affront by many after Brighton left Old Trafford with a 2-1 victory. Supporters angrily contacted United officials to remonstrate not only at a perceived lack of ambition but also historic allegations of racism against Arnautovic.
The deal was dead within days. Not as unpopular but by no means well-received was the move for Adrien Rabiot, which United pursued until it became clear that they would not reach an agreement in negotiations with his mother and agent Veronique over personal terms. The combined fee for both Arnautovic and Rabiot would have come somewhere in the region of £35m. Instead, United changed tack and spent a sum rising to £155m on two other players that symbolise the difficult balance they had to strike this summer.
Casemiro is, in some ways, exactly the type of signing that Old Trafford’s decision-makers have been criticised for making in the past. This is a player on the wrong side of 30 years old, who has a stellar reputation in European football but little left to achieve, and will become one of the club’s highest-earning players on a long-term contract. That is all without considering the potential £70m fee, making him the sixth-most expensive player in United’s history.
At the same time, United began this season with an objective: to immediately start competing again. The likelihood is that, more than any of the other new arrivals to Old Trafford this summer, Casemiro will help achieve that. United can ill afford to spend another year outside of the Champions League. A five-time winner with Real Madrid, and regarded as arguably the best in his position in Europe, the Brazil international can be a difference maker while still in his prime.
The second signing was Antony, a winger United were chasing from the very start in a bid to reunite him with Ten Hag and demonstrate backing for their new manager. At 22 years old with merely a growing reputation but room to develop, he is the type of player United have been accused of overlooking in the past. He would be a relatively low-risk acquisition were it not for the €100m fee. Midway through the window, Ajax’s asking price was deemed too high and a deal for Antony was unlikely. A week before the deadline closed, United paid it.
Clearly, something changed. Ten Hag admitted as much this week. United made “adaptations”, he said, because of the inflated market that they were operating in meant that in order to compete, they had to pay up. “All the top clubs spent a lot of money in the summer. That is how the market has developed… it’s the market. We have to accept it.” Ten Hag was asked if the Brighton defeat and subsequent humiliation at Brentford had contributed to this change in approach but was careful not to suggest so.
Then there was the other side of the ledger, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s summer-long desire to leave in pursuit of Champions League football. Publicly, United’s stance was consistent: Ronaldo still had at least a year remaining on his current contract and was not for sale. Privately, there was more uncertainty. History has shown that when the five-time Ballon d’Or winner wishes to move clubs, he tends to get his way. That is how he ended up back at Old Trafford last summer, after all. Even when United were champions of Europe, they only managed to keep him an extra year.
Ronaldo did not leave, though, predominantly because of a lack of realistic suitors and viable interest. Despite Jorge Mendes’ best efforts to offer up his star client’s services, it became clear over the past week that he would be staying put. United got their way, in a way. Ten Hag has maintained throughout that Ronaldo is in his plans going forward and that he can fit into his system, but the fact that the Portuguese has only been part of one of his five Premier League starting line-ups so far perhaps tells its own story. Perhaps it should be no surprise that Ronaldo is not leaving, though, given the club’s struggles to sell players in recent years.
James Garner’s last-minute move to Everton was a welcome case of a player leaving for a fee. United could recoup up to £15.5m for an academy graduate, plus extra through a substantial sell-on clause. The £10m sale of Andreas Pereira to Fulham was also good business. Other than that, players have either departed for little, if not nothing at all. Although a long time ago now, it cannot and should not be forgotten that the summer began with United losing their club record signing on a free transfer for the second time in his career.
Whereas Paul Pogba’s ties to United have most likely been severed once and for all, others have only left on a temporary basis. United are happy with their business in the loan market, having managed to cover the wages of players who would not play in full. Still, there is room for improvement there too. It has been noted, for example, that while United are paying a £2m fee to Newcastle to loan Martin Dubravka for a season, there is no such arrangement for Eric Bailly or Alex Telles, sent out to Marseille and Sevilla respectively.
Now the deadline has passed, the only number that really matters is the number of bodies available to Ten Hag. The upshot of a summer’s work is five new, permanent signings with addition of Dubravka on loan, minus 23 players departing, around 11 of whom could be considered members of the first team. A bloated squad has been trimmed down somewhat. There are gaps still, enough for an injury in a position of vulnerability to cause serious problems, but there are also bigger, more urgent holes that have been plugged.
It has not been a perfect window by any means but it might still be one of progress. If it helps Ten Hag deliver a top-four finish, it will be considered a success. And if not, then they can always go back in for De Jong in January.
