With at least five signings all but secured ahead of Friday's transfer deadline, Man United can be satisfied with a progressive summer in the market.
“I’m not confident that we’ll solve all the problems in the first transfer window,” Sir Jim Ratcliffe said. He was right.
Much is the same as last season. No fit specialist left back, a lack of goals, a barren midfield and an added-time defeat. Ratcliffe admitted in June he had encountered "lots of bad surprises" at United but "I see the problem as an opportunity".READ MORE: United are raising the standards by selling the right players
With the Ugarte deal, United have committed to investing £625.43million in signings under Erik ten Hag. This summer's total will rise to £206.06m with the eventual confirmation of Ugarte in a United shirt. Ugarte, Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui commanded a combined initial fee of £182.27m, leaving United with a current net spend total of £97.19m. Their approach has been more disciplined.
There is still no satisfactory rationale on the targeting of Dutch-born players. Ten Hag protested he does not favour Dutch recruits yet 11 of the 22 signings on his watch were born, or played, in the Netherlands. United have a nucleus of players to build an eventual championship-challenging side around. Captain Bruno Fernandes has been remunerated, Lisandro Martinez is free of injury, Andre Onana is settled after an unforgiving period of adaptation while Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho are the poster boys of the new United.
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