So the transfer window closed without the much rumoured signing of a left back, nor the signing of another striker to help Sesko. And the Manchester United fan base lost their minds.
Despite completely rebuilding our midfield with three excellent signings – and doing so by spending sensible money, by the way – for much of the fan base, the window was a failure. A disgrace! A failure to back the manager!
Guys. Listen to yourselves. In the words of Roy Keane, you’re acting like big babies.
We all wanted Lewis Hall and Danny Welbeck (just imagine if Welbeck had come back), but it didn’t happen. For a multitude of complex reasons that aren’t simply: “The United leadership team failed the club”.
But remember this: we have a better squad than we had last year when we came third having replaced our manager at the half way point. If anything, I’m optimistic.
Here’s my take.
The Left Back Situation
Do we trust Luke Shaw to make it through the entire season without getting injured? No. He’s injury prone, he’s past his prime, and he’s going to need help.
But he’s not exactly on his own. Alright he’s the only left back ‘specialist’ I suppose, but there are options. Mazraoui can play there, Dalot can play there, and I know both are right footed but they can deputise. Then there is Patrick Dorgu. Again, not exactly the defensive left back of a prime Luke Shaw, but with Rashford in front of him it could be an interesting partnership.
And let’s not forget Harry Amass. He’s a real left back, a United academy player, and did a decent job when used in the 2024/25 season, not to mention successful loans last year. We are supposed to champion our youth, right? That’s who we are as a club. So let’s use him.
We only have to make it to January to buy a replacement if we need one before next season, when we will make another approach for Lewis Hall, apparently.
We don’t have a permanent solution it’s true, but we’re not exactly void of options at left back.
The Striker Situation
For me, this was a nice to have not a must have.
Danny Welbeck back at Old Trafford would have been a beautiful sight, but I think that rumour was fan led rather than coming from the club. Zirkzee was potentially leaving which might have made us move for someone to replace him, but even without Zirkzee, we have people who can play and score up front.
Mbeumo and Cunha are not natural strikers, I get that, but they can fill in. With Rashford back and looking good on the left (I may have been wrong about him), and Diallo available on the right alongside Shea Lacey – who I think is going to be incredible – plus Mount when he’s around and Zirkzee if we need him, there are a lot of pieces Carrick can move around in attack.
The only real issue we have is height. Sesko is 6ft 5′, giving the team an aerial threat in the box that we can’t really replace with anyone else. Zirkzee is 6ft 4′ but doesn’t threaten in the air.
So I agree that we need another option as a focal point, but we have been getting most of our goals elsewhere for a while now, so we can hold on a little longer without disaster striking, I think.
The Financial Situation
Manchester United are a debt riddled club with an ownership who borrowed to buy it then made the club pay that debt. Our finances are rubbish.
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1/7 🚨 THE MAN UTD FINANCIAL PRISON: AN IDIOT’S GUIDE 🚨Ever wondered why @ManUtd makes £666M+ a year but gets out-manoeuvred by promoted clubs in the transfer market?The club is financially trapped by two decades of toxic mismanagement. Here is the breakdown. 👇#MUFC… pic.twitter.com/dKyFSqp1oW— Manchester United 📸 (Fan account) (@manutdf2) September 1, 2026
We can’t burn money like we did in the past. It’s bad business, and other clubs have been taking advantage of it for years. The Manchester United tax is real. The leadership team are finally acting like sensible business people again, and the fan base complain! The same fan base who complained that the old leadership were wasting money.
What do you want, people?
I’m delighted that United are walking away from deals. They are changing the narrative and improving our reputation as a serious club. It might slow us down a little now, but it will save us a shed load of cash in lower transfer fees going forward. The message is clear: this club will not have its pocket picked any more. To add to this, we can’t spend infinite money even if we wanted to due to spending rules.
The transfer window is a complex beast with dominoes falling in all directions, and sometimes things don’t come off because of what happens further down the chain that has nothing to do with United. Newcastle wouldn’t sell Hall because they had already sold… well, everyone else. United had limited funds and were focussing on midfield at that point.
The transfer window is all about lining your ducks up then pivoting quickly when something changes. Man United did that.
The Club Knows More Than You
What really drives me mad is all the ‘expert’ fans talking as though they know what’s happening at the club.
No one has any idea what conversations are going on behind closed doors. For all we know, Lewis Hall might have agreed personal terms and given us his word he wants to sign for us next summer, with Newcastle’s agreement. Fan channels can speculate and do their own maths on the numbers to come up with a transfer budget, but it’s just speculation.
Even the press only know what the club want them to know, aside from the odd leak, perhaps, but Man Utd seem to have stopped the leaks too.
In other words, when people like Mark Goldbridge rant about what the club should have done, or calls them idiots for not doing something he would have done, just remember that he hasn’t got the faintest idea what he’s talking about. He’s not in the room where decisions are made, he doesn’t know why they are made, he’s just guessing like the rest of us and winding everyone up. And that goes for everyone else with an opinion.
We can all theorise, but turning against the club when you don’t know how they are moving or why doesn’t make a tiny bit of sense to me.
So let’s all relax, shall we? We’re two games in, Luke Shaw isn’t injured, Bruno has already scored a hat-trick, and Rashford is tracking back. Things might be alright.