Erik ten Hag has been left fuming by Manchester United ’s failures in the summer transfer window and being let down over the club’s lack of activity.
United’s transfer chiefs – led by CEO Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough – have come up short this summer in meeting their promise to Ten Hag; that they would add five new players to the first-team squad.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been determined to depart the Red Devils this summer after just one season back at Old Trafford while Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic were among a glut of first-team exits from the club this summer – with nine players from last year’s squad having left.
Yet despite pledging the Dutchman that five players would be added to his squad over the summer window, the club have come up short – with just three additions into Ten Hag’s squad. Full-back Tyrell Malacia was signed from Feyenoord, Ajax were raided for defender Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen joined as a free agent after leaving Brentford.
In isolation, there is logic behind each of those three deals but the reality is that United are six players down on the squad who completed last season with their attacking ranks particularly diminished. It has left them continuing to rely on Ronaldo despite his desire to leave and has given Anthony Martial – whose future at the club appeared to be coming to an end – a United revival, despite an early injury setback.
Yet United’s summer-long pursuit of Frenkie de Jong has surpassed 14 weeks and failure to land the Dutch international from Barcelona – a probability that appears to be increasingly likely – would be embarrassing, and indicative of a huge error. Not only did it mean they could not land a prime target, but they spent three months holding off other deals in a key position to put that deal on hold.
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In midfield and in attack United are desperately short on both quality and depth, while their defensive issues – evident across last season – have not been adequately addressed by the two humbling Premier League defeats against Brighton and Brentford. David de Gea’s position as first-choice goalkeeper is increasingly untenable after two disastrous performances.
United are closing in on a deal to sign Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot but former interim boss Ralf Rangnick’s assessment last season that the squad needed “open heart surgery” has not been heeded by the club’s hierarchy, who instead decided to scrap the German’s vague two-year consultancy agreement.
