Manchester United is a world footballing power. They are the richest club in all of sport and a storied organization. However, and this has been beaten to death, the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era has been rough. David Moyes’ football genius flopped. Louis van Gaal spent the better part of a billion pounds and made barely a bigger dent. It took Jose Mourinho completely abandoning a top four charge to win European silverware. So it is understandable that the club would look to spend big this summer. They’ve seen themselves linked to dozens thus far, but have only one bite to date. That will change though as the Red Devils prepare to empty their bank accounts to maintain themselves among the elite going forward.
As I said in the opening, Manchester United hasn’t gone empty-handed through the early stages of the transfer window. Benfica’s Victor Lindelöf arrived for £30million this past week. It was an end to the running gag of the summer. Get linked to United, sign somewhere else rather quickly. The Swede’s introduction will set off the EPL’s transfer dominoes. Those will begin to tumble this week for certain.
Michael Carrick is a bit old in the tooth. However, the England international is still a vital cog in Mourinho’s plans. The Special One’s scheme works best with two true holding midfielders. Manchester United’s preferred options are the Monaco duo of Fabinho and Tiemoue Bakayoko. They could miss out on both though. Nemanja Matic, one of Mourinho’s favorites from his old employers Chelsea, would be a more than reasonable consolation prize. The Serbian’s price tag is still fairly high at between £30m-£40m factoring add-ons. But the familiarity factor makes that cost more palatable for the club.
While Matic would help stabilize at the back, the options behind him are in flux as well. Manchester United’s defense was a sore spot last season, even with Mourinho’s tactics. Eric Bailly is the only man besides Lindelöf pencilled in the lineup in pen. No other defender’s job is safe. They’ll be even more so if Nelson Semedo joins his Benfica brethren at Old Trafford. A Semedo addition would spell the end for Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw, two fullbacks that were always on the outside looking in under Mourinho.
But let’s be honest. The real transfer drama surrounding Manchester United is at the very front and very back of the formation. Let’s start in net where the David de Gea saga continues. The Spain international has had one foot out the door at United for the better part of two seasons. The whispers get louder when Real Madrid is involved. Could this be the summer that he finally makes the move? Well, that may involve a certain someone I’ve previously written about.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still unsettled in Madrid. He’s off in Russia on national team duty at the moment, but despite the fever pitch around his tax situation fading, talk about a CR7 reunion with Manchester United hasn’t. The latest has de Gea and nearly £200m going to Los Blancos for Ronaldo. That swap isn’t the only way though. If Ronaldo isn’t the big fish in an RM/MUFC trade, de Gea would be. Alvaro Morata and £45m is the price if Real still want their keeper yet still keep Ronaldo. It’ll be interesting to see which scenario becomes reality. Either move could pave the way for wunderkind Gianluigi Donnarumma to trade in Milan for Manchester. Both would also ease the transition away from Zlatan Ibrahimovic at striker.
The spending has just begun for Manchester United. Don’t expect it to stop until Mourinho finally has “his” team in the fold. That’ll cost some serious coin. Will the Glazers oblige? It seems as if they are ready to do so.