23 Jul 2026 12:31:22.
First of all, I have absolutely no idea how our two new midfield signings will fare and/or will be enough, or whether history will show we were actually buying smart rather than big. Our rivals have new more experienced managers and are splashing the cash, which does tend to stoke a fear that we will be ill-equipped for the new season. I can see why fans are generally dissatisfied. It seems like the club's actions lack the ambition to really contend for the EPL title next year, let alone survive and prosper in the much more intense season coming. Is the club prepared to put its money where its mouth is?

Signing young players may pan out in the future, but then it may not. We've all seen the flash in the pans like Macheda and Januzaj. Teams are not judged on what they may or may not do in the future, but what they achieve in the current campaign.



What surprises me is just how penny-pinching the club is being. We could have revenues approaching £800m, so we have plenty of room from a squad cost point of view. I was really expecting us to spend £250-£300m this summer. There's still 5 weeks+ to go in the window so all is not yet lost. And, in the end, as Spain showed this World Cup, none of the stars with the biggest names, other then Yamal who actually had a relatively quiet tournament, ended up on the winner's podium. It's a team game. If the club doesn't make any more significant purchases (because there still isn't any value in the market?), then Carrick will need to reveal his inner SAF, creating a team that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

1.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 14:10:32
As SAF said, there is no value in the transfer market. I think this quote suits now, more than ever. You say splash the cash, I see none available that can come here and elavate our team, or maybe there are only very few available. I really cant see the reason to spend huge money for someone, says Fernandez, that maybe will improve you very little. Maybe the club sees it this way. Otherwise, history and researches suggest that big money moves, more often than not, fail for different reasons. So instead for overpaying for decent players, we buy decent players with half the money, no pressure on players (one of the reasons of failing), not big book value so we can sell if doesnt work out and to summarise, a team that are united without big names but good hardworking players who wants to be here.

We have a proper structure again. Its not ideal, we are not favourites for the league and maybe not even close, yet, but finally we see improvement and we are miles better than we were before Ineos who cleared a lot of the mess and keep clearing.

2.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 16:21:09
I said other teams were splashing the cash and that I had no idea whether what we're doing will be successful. In the end, it's a team game, and high cost players don't necessarily get you where you want to go. Isak and Wirtz last year were a great example of that.

I also said that we should have the money should the right player be available, but I am concerned that the notion that there's no value in the marketplace is taking hold again, and, in the long run, we will be doomed to challenging for European places rather than actual titles.

3.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 16:37:52
I think we have been caught out in a summer where prices are probably 30 million dearer than they should be, New Name, and unfortunately we aren't gonna go to them prices.
I'd imagine our board saw Anderson as an 80 to 85 million player.
Fernandes as maybe 55 to 60.

4.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 17:28:06
Are fans panicking or feeling underwhelmed? That's not the impression I get from the United fans I speak to. Sure there is always a little hyperbole online, as there always is. But on the whole I get the impression that most match going fans are fairly happy and content with how the club is being run currently.

Personally in terms of our signings under INEOS, I don't think I can fault them.

We've missed out on a couple of targets such as Delap, Semenyo, and Emi Martinez last season, but signed Sesko, Mbeumo and Lemmans instead, personally I think we signed the better options in the end.

We've missed out on Anderson and Mateus Fernandes this summer, but have managed to get deals for Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans instead. I'm happy with the two we have signed.

Comparing our signings pre and post INEOS is like comparing chalk and cheese. We no longer panic, we no longer over pay. Our targets are signed to fit into a plan and are well scouted, rather than short term, poorly chosen flip flopping of targets.

The only two signings I think you can categorically say haven't worked out under INEOS are Ugarte and Zirkzee.

You could see the logic behind signing them, and when all is said and done I expect we'll come close to breaking even on those deals, so no big loss.

Lets go through the other signings:

Mazraoui, been solid and I don't believe there was a better value for money option that we could have bought.

MdL, I'd probably give a 6 out of 10, mostly due to the games he's not been available for. When he's played he's been great.

Leny Yoro, still looks promising, he was very good in his first season, but had a slight dip in his second season.

Dorgu looks very promising, and for the fee looks like a great deal.

Lammens, was genuinely probably the EPL signing of the season last year.

Cunha has been a joy to watch.

Mbeumo has been a really good signing.

Sesko has shown great quality and looks like he will go on to be a EPL great.

We've then signed a flurry of youth players, Ayden Heaven, Chido Obi, Sekou Kone, Kana-Biyik, and Diego Leon. These are guys signed with the intention that they can supplement the first team, but are maybe a year or two away from really being able to make an impact. They've been signed for practically nothing in today's market, 3-5m for the 5 of them. If even one of them makes it (and Heaven looks like he will) then it's money well spent, we will almost certainly make money by selling the ones who don't make it with us.

There is a clear logic to our signings under INEOS, a clear plan, and a professional approach.

This summer already we have brought in Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans to improve our midfield (and managed to get both of them for less than Mateus Fernandes would have cost on his own). We have signed a solid back up keeper on a free to enable us to move Bayindir. We have also signed a young lad from Spurs (Tynan Thompson) for a low fee (4m plus 4m in add ons) who can hopefully have a similar impact as Ayden Heaven has.

It's also clear that the club won't stop at those four signings, with us heavily linked to another midfielder, a striker, a LB, a LW and possibly a CB. I doubt we'll get all of those 5 signings, and in truth with Thompson signed I expect we can cross a LW off the list this summer. I expect we'll get another midfielder, a defender and possibly a back up striker. They might not the biggest names, and the signings probably won't be over the top, and ridiculously expensive, but they will probably all be good value and improve the squad, making us stronger.

5.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 17:36:43
When Sir Alex Ferguson said there's no value in the market, what he really meant was the Glazers weren't going to give him money to spend, and he was covering for them.

6.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 18:38:15
I don't blame you, Newname. I must make this clear because English is not my first language. When I say "you say splash the cash" I don't mean you, but the majority of fans who always want the team to spend big. I know your post is balanced, and you are not overacting.
Bilko, that's one explanation.

Then, if it's true, the only person that had the power to oust the Glazers was him. I think he did not have any problem with them. My opinion is, SAF would never be a puppet of the Glazers or anyone's puppet. I believe what he then said; he truly believed it.

7.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 18:52:04
I think it comes down to what each club needs.

Now, every single United fan was in agreement at the end of last season.

We needed at least 2, ideally 3, midfielders.

We needed a ST, a LB, a LW, a CB, and probably a back up keeper.

That's 7 or 8 players needed for the first team.

You simply cannot sign more than 4 players if you are spending between 60-100m per signing.

So, the club had two options.

1. Sign 4 bigger named players for larger fees and accept that we would be light in 3 or 4 other positions of need.

2. Find more value in the market and sign 6 or 7 of the players we need.

Given the extra games we will be expecting to play this season, and the lack of squad depth, it makes sense to add more players, rather than fewer.

We've currently signed:

Darlow - free
Tielemans - 35m
Santos - 48m
Thompson - 4m

That's the back up keeper, two midfielders, and a LW player signed for an initial outlay of 87m.

Now, if that leaves enough in the kitty to then sign let's say:

Sander Berge - 40m
Adrien Truffert - 45m
Jean-Phillpe Mateta - 25m

Taking our spending up to an initial 197m while signing 7 players to strengthen the first team squad, will people still accuse them of penny pinching? Or would they have just found good value in the transfer market.

Especially when you consider that all of those players have EPL experience (with the exception of Thompson, who has at least grown up in English football).

All of those players are needed, and that still means we don't sign a CB, and our LW signing is more for the future rather than the here and now.

Or would you prefer to spend the 197m like this:

Darlow - free
Anderson - 116m
Ederson - 38m
Rafa Leao - 43m

I don't see it as penny pinching, I expect to see us spend a fair bit more, probably around the same again as we've spent already. It's about trying to find the best value for money to make sure we maximise how much we can improve our squad.

8.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 19:19:29
So quantity over quality then, eh, Shappy? We are shopping in the mid-table market, and that's where we will end up, then. Manchester United are a dinosaur, shopping cheap, becoming a cheapasaurus.

9.) 23 Jul 2026
23 Jul 2026 20:01:20
I think our business so far has been good. There is still plenty of time left, and I think a few more will come through the door. I don't think we've bought in the 'mid-table' market so far; we've bought quality at sensible prices. I'm intrigued how the season will go.

10.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 06:43:55
It is not as easy as "spend big on 4 players, or spend medium to nothing on 7-8 players".

We need a combination of those. For now, it is great, but I certainly wouldn't mind if we signed an expensive player now.

11.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 06:56:50
Heaven.

SAF did not go in hard on the Glazers, I suspect, because he was the reason they were there. The racehorse. He compromised himself. He also loved the position. There was no value in the market because the Glazers would not spend the money.

When they sold Ronaldo and didn't buy big, it was because the club would have made a loss. SAF went along with it, sadly. They would just have sacked him if he didn't, or pushed him into retirement.

12.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 06:57:13
UA, have you ever heard the quote "you know the cost of everything but the value of nothing"?

Do you really believe the quality of a player is based on how much you spend on them?

Would Senne Lammens be a better keeper if we paid 70m for him instead of 18m?

Were we shopping in the "mid-table" market when we signed Peter Schmeichel from Brondby? What about Eric Cantona from Leeds?

What constitutes this "mid-table" market that you've invented in your head? Is it linked to the size of the club we sign players from? Or is it linked to the price we pay? How does it differentiate from "well scouted signings"?

Why is paying lower fees a bad thing in your head?

How many of our most expensive signings have actually been great signings?

Paul Pogba: EUR105 million from Juventus (2016).


Antony: EUR95 million from Ajax (2022).
Harry Maguire: EUR87 million from Leicester City (2019).
Jadon Sancho: EUR85 million from Borussia Dortmund (2021).
Romelu Lukaku: EUR84.7 million from Everton (2017).
Rasmus Hojlund: EUR77.8 million from Atalanta (2023).
Benjamin Sesko: EUR76.5 million from RB Leipzig (2025).
Bryan Mbeumo: EUR75 million from Brentford (2025).
Angel Di Maria: EUR75 million from Real Madrid (2014).
Matheus Cunha: EUR74.2 million from Wolves (2025).

Do you really believe that paying more money guarantees us signing better players?

13.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 11:16:34
It's great we bought those players and not spent a lot, but surely the main question is, are they good enough! What's the point in buying because they are cheap if they don't take you where you want to go, surely that's just false economy.
I'm not saying if the players signed are good or bad; what I am saying is, what a crazy logic that you should be happy because you only spent 80 odd million on them...

You can buy 6 suits at C&A, will it look as good as the only one you can afford from Savile Row, will it even last as long... I use the term C&A, as that's the era you're basing that statement on... yesteryear.

14.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 12:31:15
That's a stupid argument, Shappy. You can list 100 players that didn't cost much but weren't successful either. It's not the money that makes a signing successful, although it does play a part in them not being counted a success. Like Harry Maguire, if he had cost 40m, he would have been considered a success, but at 80 he is said to be a disaster, and yet he was the club captain. How many clubs were after Santos, or 29-year-old Tielemans? You can buy 100 wagons or a Rolls-Royce, and you should know which is better.

The current recruitment is ok to keep us in the 4th to 7th bracket, provided Bruno reproduces last season's numbers, but if we are to go deep in the CL and at least challenge for the league, then we need better players. I am guessing you have forgotten how dismal our last CL campaign was; else you would be demanding better quality.

15.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 19:08:11
UA, you said something similar this time last year, complaining that signing players from Wolves and Brentford were not going to get us from 15th back into the UCL places.

How did that prediction pan out?

We don't know which clubs were interested in Tielemans and Santos. Maybe there were others, or maybe there wasn't. Maybe they only wanted to join us, or maybe we forced the issue and other clubs didn't think it was likely to succeed.

Would your wife's value be based on how many other men proposed to her?

It's an odd way to value something.

Tielemans was Villa's best and probably most important player. The difference between him playing for them and not was that, when he was on the pitch, they were a top 3 team in the league; when he wasn't available, they dropped down to 6th/7th.

Santos was one of the most highly rated young midfielders when he signed for Chelsea. He then had a season on loan in France, where, despite being 20 years old, he was given the captaincy at Strasbourg.

He was one of the top 5 midfielders in the league; the only ones who could be argued to be better than him that season were Vitinha, Joao Neves, and Fabian Ruiz. He came back to Chelsea and didn't get as much game time initially due to them having two 100m+ midfielders playing ahead of him. Yet the team's performance levels never dropped when he did come into the team for one of those vastly more expensive signings. By the end of the season he was genuinely keeping them out of the team at times.

I think the problem you have is that you don't watch enough football. You seem to have very little appreciation for anyone bar the well known elite players.

Which is fine, no one expects you to watch 10 or more full matches a week. Just remember that, if you make judgements based on very little knowledge of something, you will more than likely end up with egg on your face. As you did last season after bemoaning last summer's transfers as not being good enough to get us back in the top four.

16.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 19:19:55
And please do find me that post from last year.

17.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 18:52:37
Je suis, so your argument then is that you think you know more than the clubs scouting department?

Because you don't see the value in the players you think the club are wrong to sign them.

I suppose that's why you're a top rated football scout and our club is an abject failure.

18.) 24 Jul 2026
24 Jul 2026 19:18:43
How did my wife get involved in all of this? I can reply to you using a similar analogy about women from your family but i am not cheap like yourself. Do you teach your students that?