Inside Man Utd’s transfer window as club ‘overpay’ for midfielder, Lewis Hall long game and struggle to sell players

JASON WILCOX was loitering around the Carton House lobby during Manchester United’s stay there last month. Some United supporters might wonder whether he was waiting for a left back to appear. Wilcox’s second transfer window as director of football has not been as crowdpleasing as his first. Four arrivals (one a back-up goalie), with £155million invested, is a modest outlay from United when six signings represented a best-case scenario. Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada watch on as United lose to Hull Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Baleba is United’s eighth first-team signing with Wilcox as director of football Credit: Getty There is a theme here that long predates Wilcox. United always spend big when they have not qualified for the Champions League. 2014: £155.5m Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! 2016: £145.3m 2019: £150m 2022: £228.3m 2024: £206.06m 2025: £225.22m This is only the third summer United have broken the £150m barrier with Champions League football on the calendar and there was still a drop of £70.22m from last year. A line graph would give the impression United were in a recession. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK The austerity is not without risk. After investing £169m on Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic in 2017, United got complacent a year later, spending £72.5m on two players with release clauses and a third-choice ‘keeper. During the 2018-19 season, United sacked Mourinho, hired the more collegiate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, fell to sixth and did not require silver polish until 2023. This was the silliest of silly seasons, one where Premier League clubs took absence of their senses. Gary Neville’s deadline-day tweet in 2012 still rings true: “What the transfer deadline gives you is a clear indication of which are the badly run football clubs!!!” Whilst English football was eating itself, United’s restraint is welcomed. Tottenham’s tribute act to one of Ed Woodward’s early summers has already blown up in their face under a combustible manager. Manchester City’s overhaul of their midfield has turned out to be more drastic than United’s after Rodri was sold to Barcelona. United may rue the sight of Elliot Anderson in laser blue but not the classless and snide Enzo Fernandez. United’s reputation has preceded them for several years and the 2022 and 2023 summer windows (the last two before Sir Jim Ratcliffe assumed control of football operations) were particularly damaging. The club grossly overspent £156.3m on Casemiro and Antony – more than their entire outlay this summer – and Ratcliffe later described the duo as “inherited”. Both are gone. The 2023-24 campaign was United’s worst in the league for 34 years and Mason Mount is the only survivor from their seven signings going into it. United’s restraint is a drastic gear-shift eight years after Woodward privately claimed he was prepared to sanction a £100m bid for Raphael Varane. Woodward made the proclamation as it was about as likely as Joel Glazer paying off United’s debt. Mount is the only survivor at United from the 2023 summer window Credit: Getty Hojlund and Onana were flops Credit: Getty Remarkably, United are the only old ‘big six’ club not to have made a £100m signing. So they were never going to pay nine figures for Anderson (who preferred City anyway) or outbid Tottenham after they blew them out of the water for Mateus Fernandes. United did misread the market. Rather than bid for Elliot before Nottingham Forest accepted £116m from City, they made a beeline for Atalanta mainstay Ederson. Real Madrid were convinced Fernandes was United-bound and Arsenal stepped aside. United were totally blindsided by Spurs. Ederson had a year left on his contract and was evidently seen as a cost-effective squad player purchase. It turned into a saga before the deal collapsed after Brazil were eliminated from the World Cup, purportedly over a medical issue. United reinvested the £35million on Youri Tielemans, a 29-year-old well out of their preferred age bracket of 22-26 for targets. There were no other takers for Tielemans, who had a release clause, so the deal was concluded swiftly. Wilcox was encouraged by Tielemans’ collaboration with Bruno Fernandes in the friendly draw with Paris Saint-Germain, but Tielemans has since admitted his body “switched off” during the World Cup. The Belgium captain has looked older than his age in United’s opening games. Andrey Santos was signed in similarly straightforward circumstances in a £50m deal as he was deemed surplus by Chelsea. A source who has dealt with Santos is adamant United overpaid and the Brazilian was dropped against Ipswich Town. Carrick shifted a tad uncomfortably when asked why the Carlos Baleba deal was concluded in the final week of the window. Carrick said things “had to drop”. United paid £50m for Santos Credit: Getty Baleba became United’s fourth summer signing Credit: Getty Aurelien Tchouameni was United’s ideal target but there was concern the numbers could spiral and the arrival of a Real Madrid talent could upset United’s salary structure. Baleba was still an easy sell as he had Premier League clout and is four years younger than Tchouameni. Sources familiar with the Baleba negotiations say United’s communication was central to Baleba eagerly seeking to join the club. “He felt genuinely wanted,” a source said. “And he felt they understood the player he is and the one he wants to become. “The conversations were about football and about growth, not about status.” One headline United signing in recent times partly agreed to join the club as he recognised it would increase his commercial cachet. United have also been burned from signing Real Madrid cast-offs. As vulnerable as United have looked in defence this summer, the backline was always likely to be untouched. They already have nine senior defenders. A reinforcement on the left-hand side had been targeted for months but United were flexible as to whether it would be a winger or a full back. Their minds were made up for them after Barcelona did not buy Marcus Rashford. They left it too late with Lewis Hall, keen to join the exodus at Newcastle. United were encouraged by Hall’s annoyance with Eddie Howe, whom he blamed for missing out on an England World Cup squad place. Rashford is back in a United shirt Credit: Alamy Hall missed out on a move to United Credit: Shutterstock Editorial After Howe left, Hall was still looking to depart. “Maybe it’s time,” one of Hall’s inner circle said. United held informal discussions but a source close to Hall said Newcastle “shut that down”. United are possibly playing the long game again, as they did with Baleba. United enquired about Baleba 12 months before he was driven into their Carrington training complex. Hall will be into the final two years of his existing contract next summer. The quirk of United’s left-back situation is they actually have plenty of options there. Beyond Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu, Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot have all played at left back. Dorgu was playing there for Lecce when United signed him. With Rashford and Matheus Cunha more natural and better left wingers, Dorgu may drop back to provide competition for Shaw. Dorgu had started three games on the left wing for Carrick before this season and scored in all of them. Two of those starts were in Carrick’s first games in charge and the third on the final day of the season at Brighton. As impressive as the numbers were, Dorgu was sloppy at Arsenal before his Tony Yeboah impression and Brighton crumbled. But Carrick had developed a blind spot. Hull away on the opening day was a more reliable gauge and Dorgu was hooked at half-time. Carrick now has a clearer view of Dorgu: squad player. Dorgu: winger or full back? Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Shaw is into his 13th year at United Credit: Alamy It is not ideal that, should Shaw succumb to injury or warrant a demotion, that Dorgu is the specialist to turn to. While he is not starting United left-winger material, Dorgu has had his best games in a more advanced role and that dates back to Ruben Amorim’s final weeks. While there was never going to be a fire sale, United still did not ignite in the seller’s market. Toby Collyer was their most senior sale and started four times for the club against Barnsley, Rangers and Steaua Bucharest. The last of those was in January 2025. Manuel Ugarte was unsellable after injury, while Altay Bayindir and Joshua Zirkzee suffered such reputational damage at United there was barely a market for them. Bayindir is only at Celta Vigo on loan and Everton panicked with their enquiry about Zirkzee. Rashford’s salary blocked a permanent change of scenery. Fernandes’ future has been moot. Galatasaray’s ‘offer’ in mid-August was essentially a PR exercise to increase the Turkish club’s profile in the European market. Carrick has overseen 13 wins from 19 games as head coach Credit: Getty Images – Getty Ten Hag was due to be sacked before United won the FA Cup Credit: Reuters If Galatasaray’s offer was serious, it consisted of €35m payable in three installments over a two-year period. Never mind that Fernandes had a €60m release clause before his award-winning 2025-26. United still have pull. A couple of Chelsea’s biggest names would relish moving to Manchester in the distant future but United have to maintain progress. The last time they came third, they plummeted to eighth and lost 14 league games in Erik ten Hag’s second season. He barely survived an end-of-season sacking and it was merely a stay of execution. Carrick is Wilcox’s man, though. Comment now