Manchester United are having one of the worst summer transfer windows ever seen. This summer was meant to be a revival after their worst Premier League finish, 15th, and a year without European action. Instead, shocking organizational inefficiency, confused vision, and an incoherent transfer policy left fans disillusioned and rivals amused. There is no strategy, identity, or urgency.
A £62.5 million deal for Wolves forward Matheus Cunha is the only notable signing so far. The strengthening of their youth squad with the signings of Diego León from Cerro Porteño and Enzo Kana-Biyik from Le Havre, are seen as long-term investments rather than immediate reinforcements.
At the time of writing this article, Manchester United remain in negotiations for Brentford talisman Bryan Mbeumo with negotiations starting over 40 days ago. Two bids for the Cameroonian have been rejected so far.
This saga leaves United fans worried as the start of 25/26 Season is less than a month.
To rub salt into injuries, Manchester United’s arch-rivals Liverpool are seemingly having a galactico spending spree with arrivals of Florian Wirtz (£116 million) and Jeremie Frimpong ( £35 million) from Bayer Leverkusen, Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth (£40 million) and now they’re looking to break the bank for Newcastle United’s prolific striker Alexsandar Isak with a reported fee worth £120 million.
The same can be said for their local rivals Manchester City, who have strengthened their core with Rayan Ait Nouri, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders. Arsenal have brought in Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke and they are closing in on Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres.
The Red Devils predicarments have been compounded by their PSR issues, meaning that they can only buy when they manage to sell players themselves. The club is looking to offload Marcus Rashford , Alejandro Garnacho , Jadon Sancho and Antony. seemingly with no suitors as their wages making them unsellable for these players meaning a lack of movement this entire window.
United have also missed out on key targets for the striker problem such as Liam Delap, who has since moved to Chelsea, and it now looks like long-time target Gyokeres is closing in on a move to Arsenal. This is particularly a huge blow, considering that the Swedish goal machine is a former player of current manager Ruben Amorim, and are now left scrambling for limited striking options.
Since INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of the club, little change has come by at Manchester. Though they manage football operations, the Glazers remain majority owners, and United’s past bottlenecks persist.
Manchester United feels like a bloated corporate relic without a sports compass. Their wages are unsustainable. They recruit illogically. The way they play? Undefined. Amorim underestimated the club’s degeneration and may be disillusioned. Insiders think he won’t finish this new season.
Manchester United’s dysfunction is not a blip, as the summer of 2025 showed. Without a Glazer exit, a team restructure, or a philosophical reboot, Manchester United’s future appears gloomy.
