Ina previous article we listed Man Uniteds squad and all the problems, players leaving on free, contracts ended and the sale of a few players. It could be said that they needed about 8 to 10 signings, that seemed unrealitic.
On 21 April 2022, Ten Hag was appointed as manager of Manchester United starting from end of the 2021–22 season. He apparently handed Man United a list of transfer targets
As of this article,Man United have signed 3 players – Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martínez
There has been an absolutely woeful chasing of Frankie De Jong, now whatever you make of his situation at Barcelona and their behaviour has been obnoxious at times during the window. Man United have messed this up, its not even certain the player would actually sign but apparently he does not want to go there.
Its also said that the issue is his deferred wages which rather sneakily Barcelona got the player to agree to, he did to help the club and now they are at the capers, if all the talk is to be believed – yep, you could write an article about their antics
Signings
Tyrell Malacia
On 5 July 2022 Man Utd paid Feyenoord an initial fee of £13 million, with an extra £1.7 million in add-ons, to make Malacia the club’s first signing under manager Erik ten Hag.
It was a position that needed strengthened but the number 1 position I’m not so sure
Christian Eriksen
GIven a six month contract by Brentford, only Kevin De Bruyne and Martin Ødegaard created more chances in the Premier League during the time of his first appearance
Since he was available on a free, there was always a good chance he could be signed and he is a quality player. A good addition who joined on the 15th july.
He has plenty of premier league experience and also a Danish international – should have a better attitude than Pogba did and probably contribute more.
Lisandro Martínez
An Ajax player was always going to be on the shopping list, if not several of them at the club.
On 16 July 2022, it was announced that Manchester United had agreed a deal with Ajax for the signing of Martínez.
The transfer was finally completed on 27 July – a sign of things to come, when Martínez signed a five-year contract with the club.
His transfer fee was reported to be about the £49 million mark, plus £8.5 million in add-on which seems rather costly for the player but Man United and costly defenders – been there.
He was mainly signed as a centre-back, though he is capable of playing at left-back and as a central midfielder – all problem positions
Rumours and panic
So thats it – 3 signings in over 3 months
After losing the first game against Brighton where the team was an utter shambles, panic mode seems to have set in. Lets analyse the next developments.
Not long after losing the rumours started to come out – signing Marko Arnautović and Adrien Rabiot. Wait, are you serious.
Neither of these players were in the plans and reek of desperation, Marko Arnautović has so much baggage off the field that was never a good idea, especially since Man Utd have plenty of players like that.
He was never a world beater at West Ham doing a reasonable job, left to play in China for the money – sorry advance his career and then came to Italy to play for a lower end team in Bologna. He was subject to a bid before backlash from the fans – i won’t comment on his antics but unsavoury would be polite.
Then we move onto Adrien Rabiot, a player that always seemed like he could be a really top player but never quite did it. If you play for PSG and you are freed and then Juventus get you and are keen to sell you – that says a lot really. Looking at his stats they are not much better than the existing midfielders.
Despite his talent and ability, he has come under criticism over his behaviour off the pitch, and has also been accused lacking professionalism, as well as having a poor attitude and a difficult character, which has led him to have issues with several of his managers
The players above are not the answer and more and more random rumours. keep appearing. One simple fact – if either of those two were on the list this would have been public knowledge – Man Utd would leak it, the player and their agents would leak it and the other clubs would to drum up more interest.
