Manchester United won their second preseason game 5-0 against Rosenborg in Trondheim, Norway, on Friday, and will play a further four games in Sweden, Ireland and Poland against Atletico Madrid, PSG, Leeds United and AC Milan before the Premier League returns. <\/p>\n
United finished third last season after interim coach Michael Carrick improved the team when he took over from Ruben Amorim in January, taking them from seventh into a Champions League place with an average points per game ratio that would have been good enough to win the league had it been matched over 38 games. United have got into a habit of winning again and want that to continue, though it\u2019ll be far tougher this season with the extra matches in the Champions League and, fans would hope, domestic cup competitions.<\/p>\n
Football-wise, if not financially, United<\/a> benefitted from no European football last season and only two domestic cup games. This term will be very different and United need to build for this since the current squad is unbalanced. Brazilian midfielder Casemiro has left having been a key player as well as a top earner, but his departure is not the only area which needs to be addressed. <\/p>\n United were busy in 2025 in the transfer market bringing in five players for significant fees. Rarely, given signing players for one of the world\u2019s biggest clubs is not scientific, all were a success.<\/p>\n Signings so far have been Brazilian defensive midfielder Andrey Santos from Chelsea for \u00a348 million plus \u00a32 million probable add ons. Santos, 22, needs to get to full fitness, but he\u2019s impressing so far by what he does off the ball \u2013 screening, anticipating and reading the game \u2013 as much as what he does on it. United feel that while he\u2019s not the perfect signing given his lack of Premier League experience, but feel that he has an amazing football brain. <\/p>\n Belgium captain Youri Tielemans, 29, has also signed, with United smart in acting on his release clause at Aston Villa. The move for him was kept hush-hush not to alert potential rivals going for the midfielder. <\/p>\n Tielemans is considered an all-round midfielder who can create, and is good with the ball for a team which loses it too much, and he\u2019s also playing the best football of his career. The new pair will join Kobbie Mainoo<\/a>, 21, in midfield. The Mancunian barely featured under Amorim and had a loan request refused, but he\u2019s been key under Carrick, if not Thomas Tuchel for England. Mainoo is expected to improve and learn from his negative experience at the World Cup to motivate him further. <\/p>\n The club have long had their targets to rectify the squad\u2019s imbalances. It\u2019s frustrating when they don\u2019t come off, but there\u2019s a budget and financial discipline after previous profligacies and unsuccessful signings.<\/p>\n The club insist that they need to be smart and disciplined in the transfer market and have lost out on targets in a market which has gone crazy. That includes Nottingham Forest\u2019s Elliot Anderson<\/a>, who moved to Manchester City for a record \u00a3116 million, West Ham\u2019s Mattheus Fernandes, 21, who moved to Tottenham Hotspur for \u00a385m and Aston Villa\u2019s Morgan Rogers will move to Chelsea for a new British record \u00a3117m, but it should be noted that similar noises were heard a year ago about a lack of funds only for United to sign striker Benjamin Sesko for big money. The Slovenian, 23, who enjoyed a productive first season, has been injured but is back training on the grass. He\u2019s bulked out and looks muscular in training pictures, but is expected to slim down as he starts full training again.<\/p>\n United hoped to sign another Brazilian, Ederson, from Atalanta in Italy and terms were agreed. The Old Trafford club felt they had an excellent deal, signing him for a reasonable fee given he only had a year of his contract left, but an issue was flagged in a first medical and United decided not to go ahead. <\/p>\n United want another midfielder and to strengthen the left side, specifically at left back where Luke Shaw is the only established performer, though Moroccan Noussair Mazraoui can switch. Lewis Hall, 21, of Newcastle United is a target and United wouldn\u2019t target players if they didn\u2019t think they didn\u2019t want to move to Old Trafford. Shaw, 31, is in a situation like Harry Maguire a year ago and playing for a new contract. Shaw\u2019s 12-year United career has been afflicted by injury but he played more games than any other teammates last term and was an important performer.<\/p>\n Goalkeeper Radek Vitek, 22, outstanding on loan at Championship club Bristol City last season, is available for sale to bring in funds, but the average sale price of a Championship goalkeeper over the last five years is less than \u00a31 million. Vitek could play higher and there could be interest from abroad. <\/p>\n Real Madrid gave United target Aurelien Tchouameni, 26, a three-year contract extension and improved wages in part because they didn\u2019t think Manchester City\u2019s Rodri was available to them. Then Madrid understood that Spain\u2019s World Cup winning captain could be. If Madrid are to buy big then they need to sell big. The Spanish club are looking at multiple transfer operations right now and, should they choose to try to sell him, Tchouameni\u2019s contract extension could help them ask for a higher fee since he previously only had two years left and they did not want him to leave for free.<\/p>\n United have long admired Tchouameni and understand that the midfielder is very happy at Madrid, but would leave if they didn\u2019t want him and, if that was the case, be open to the idea of playing for United. Tchouameni\u2019s higher wages and transfer fee would be the significant issues which would need to be resolved. United have been offered other lower profile midfielders who\u2019ve only played in Spain but were aware of the transition time of leaving one league and playing in the Premier League, the toughest in the world.<\/p>\n The English giants don\u2019t have that time for players to settle in, but then the club also don\u2019t have the budget to go and buy multiple top Premier League players as they did for much of the time under Sir Alex Ferguson. At least not until United can play regular Champions League football again. <\/p>\n The start to the season<\/a> could be worse in terms of opposition and Carrick\u2019s side has serious attacking potential. Mattheus Cunha can operate between three roles on the left and centrally. Mason Mount<\/a> can drop into different roles. Amad and Bryan Mbuemo prefer the right. Bruno Fernandes is coming off the best season of his career.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Marcus Rashford, 28. As the days go by, it\u2019s increasingly likely that Rashford will return and stay as a United player. That was thought highly improbable following a successful season on loan at Barcelona. Rashford wanted to stay with the Catalans, but they didn\u2019t exercise the option to pay a \u20ac30 million transfer fee for him which expired on June 15. Barcelona have also bought Antony Gordon who plays in the same position and another wide forward, Karim Adeyemi. <\/p>\n