by “We have to get recruitment right; it’s a vital part of football today,” Sir Jim Ratcliffe said in an interview about being part owner of Manchester United earlier this year.
“I’d rather sign the next Kylian Mbappe than spend a fortune buying,” Ratcliffe said. “Buying Mbappe is not that smart. Anyone could figure that one out. Something more challenging than finding the next Mbappe or the next Jude Bellingham or Roy Keane.”
Ratcliffe gave a great insight into how he envisions running football operations and United could have a few diamonds in the rough signed in this summer’s transfer window.
Apart from recruiting Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraou and Manuel Ugarte to the first team, they have signed Sekou Kone (18 years old) and Chido Obi-Martin (16 years old), giving glimpses on the future. windows could look good with Ineos.
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All seven signings are from different corners of the world, but they all have one thing in common: they all have their best years ahead of them.
United have an unwanted reputation for signing players beyond their prime and while it will take time to change attitudes, positive progress has been made in the summer window.
Joshua Zirkzee was the first signing through the door. Rasmus Hojlund almost single-handedly shouldered United’s goal-scoring burden last season and was a priority early signing, opening talks with Bologna over the possibility of signing Zirkzee.
The former Bayern Munich youngster had a €40m release clause in his Bologna contract, but United have agreed to pay an extra €2.5m so they can phase out the payments over three years.
The release clause would have been paid in a lump sum and Zirkzee made a good start to justify his £36.5m (€42.5m) price tag by scoring on his debut against Fulham.
Zirkzee became the sixth Dutchman to score on his Old Trafford debut for United after Jordi Cruyff, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie, Alexander Buttner and Donny van de Beek.
The goal added to United’s opening day record in the Premier League – they have won more opening games than any other team – and gave Zirkzee a ‘relief’.
“I mean yeah, the first game, the first goal, it’s always a relief to get that off your shoulders, but it goes on,” he explained. “I saw the replay on my goal and it didn’t look too bad.”
The second signing through the door was Leny Yoro, signed from Lille for €62m plus €8m in add-ons. The club’s scouts, new football structure and Erik ten Hag agreed that Yoro would be an excellent addition and numerous meetings were held with the player to convince him to sign.
“Leny is one of the most exciting young defenders in world football; he has all the attributes needed to develop into a top center,” said sporting director Dan Ashworth.
“After an excellent start to his career we are excited to support him to reach his full potential here at Manchester United.
“This club has a great record of developing young players, whether grown up or brought in from elsewhere, and giving them the guidance, time and patience they need to grow and flourish.”
There was a glimpse of Yoro’s quality in his first pre-season appearance against Rangers, but disaster struck in the first game of the US tour when he fractured his metatarsal.
Although Yoro’s injury was seen as a huge blow, club sources see his exit as an opportunity for him to settle into life in Manchester and familiarize himself with his new surroundings, an approach Sir Alex Ferguson would take to picking up new signings . injuries.
The 18-year-old, who was on crutches when he was unveiled to the Old Trafford crowd, underwent surgery to treat the problem and is expected to return to action in November.
United fans are looking forward to Yoro’s return, however, they didn’t have to wait long to see Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui in the flesh following their moves from Bayern Munich.
United signed De Ligt for €45m (£38.4m) with a further €5m (£4.2m) in add-ons and Mazraoui was brought in for a fee of €15m (£12.8m) with a potential €5m (£12.8m). 4.2m) in additions. The latter started against Fulham on the opening day and De Ligt came on from the bench.
Newly appointed United CEO Omar Berrada, sporting director Ashworth and Ten Hag agreed that De Ligt and Mazraoui would be strong additions and that was key to both deals, with the pair arriving from Germany for a combined initial fee of €60m.
Club sources believe the Bayern duo’s signings have been completed at fair market value and reiterated United’s need to maintain budget control this summer.
United have tried to be disciplined in their negotiations this summer in order to secure the best deals and that approach has finally paid off in the progress of signing Ugarte.
The plan had always been to strengthen Ten Hag’s midfield options this summer and Ugarte was signed for €50million (£42.3m), with an additional €10m (£8.5m) in add-ons, on deadline day.
United were reluctant to match PSG’s €60m (£50.6m) fixed-fee asking price and believe the deal showed their patient approach to negotiations had worked.
Ugarte, who joined PSG from Sporting Lisbon in 2023, will compete with Casemiro to start at the base of United’s midfield but will not be available for selection this weekend.
The 23-year-old had to be registered with the Premier League by 12pm on Friday and the deadline was missed, so he will not be available to face Liverpool at Old Trafford.
On the back of Ugarte’s move being confirmed, a source from the club said that they have signed five players with a mixture of youth and experience but all with their best years ahead of them – that phrase was used again – and they felt that they strengthened this squad is big. summer.
Away from the first-team recruitment drive, the signing of Sekou Kone was confirmed on Friday and United believe the youngster has the potential to break into the senior squad.
United paid just over £1m for Kone, who scored his first goal in November at the Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia as his country Mali beat Argentina to claim a third-place finish.
United consider Kone to be a player with high potential and although he will join the academy first, he will spend time training with the first team at Carrington, meaning he could be on the fast track if he shows he can with him to work at the required level.
The midfielder could be the next Mbappe discussed by Ratcliffe and Arsenal’s prolific young striker Obi-Martin has similar ability.
The Obi-Martin transfer requires clearance but is not expected to be a problem. United’s head of academy, Nick Cox, and head of academy recruitment, Luke Fedorenko, were responsible for the deal and the move is seen as a significant coup.
United fans will be delighted with the arrivals this summer and strong progress has been made in offloading unwanted players, with multiple players being sold on permanent deals.
Donny van de Beek, Mason Greenwood, Willy Kambwala, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Facundo Pellistri, Will Fish, Scott McTominay, Hannibal Mejbri and Jadon Sancho were sold for fees (as long as they moved to Chelsea on a season loan with an obligation purchase completed).
United was proactive in the selling market and for the first time, most of their sales included high selling fees and buy back options. While including favorable clauses seems like common sense, they have been absent at Old Trafford until this summer window.
By including sell-on fees in deals for the likes of Greenwood, Kambwala, Pellistri, Fish and Hannibal, United can cash in on their future success.
That is extremely helpful in the era of Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) rules and should give United some breathing space in future windows.
McTominay’s sale has been crucial in this window as the sale of an academy graduate shows ‘total profit’ in the books. United received a fixed fee of €30.5 million (£25.7m) for McTominay and inserted a 10 per cent sell-on clause into the deal for the midfielder, but Ten Hag admitted at his press conference on Friday that he had mixed feelings in respect. departure
“It’s a bit mixed,” said Ten Hag. “I’m very happy with him, it’s mixed for us as well because I’d rather not lose him because he’s Man United in every way.
“He was so important for our team, he was at Manchester United for over 22 years. But unfortunately, it’s the rules. You have to discuss the rules to make sells and of course homegrown players, academy players, give more value.
“It is not the right thing to do but for everyone, for every part, it is a good part. For Scott, he is happy with it. Of course, for Napoli, a very good player but also for us.”
Ten Hag told reporters based in Manchester after the second pre-season friendly of the summer that he wanted to keep McTominay, who scored 10 goals last season, but Napoli’s offer was too good for the club to refuse and was welcomed by hundreds in Naples. of fans.
United have basically swapped McTominay for Ugarte and that’s an upgrade. They have upgraded their entire squad this summer and will be happy with their business.
They will be even happier if the ‘next Mbappe’ is signed in this window.
