Manchester United’s 2022 summer transfer window came to an end on Thursday, just over an hour after the side recorded a third straight Premier League win.
That victory came over bottom of the table Leicester City, with the single goal coming from Jadon Sancho.
This fixture saw three of Erik ten Hag’s new Manchester United signings start their third game in a row together, with a substitute appearance from a fourth.
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To properly judge a transfer window, you must take into account four separate things: who joined the club, who didn’t join the club, who left the club, and who didn’t leave the club.
Obviously, who joined the club has a massive sway in judging the transfer window as a whole as that is often the centrepiece of the debate for a club like United, however it is these four categories combined that make a much fuller view of the window itself.
So, in a slightly controversially positive light, this is what has been done, focusing on incomes first.
Who joined?
Manchester United this transfer window made six signings; Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro, Antony, and Martin Dubravka.
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This makes up one goalkeeper, two defenders, two midfielders and a right-winger.
Now, although the window started incredibly slowly, which almost certainly scuppered plans to some degree as Ten Hag was only able to take one signing on the pre-season tour, the last time United made six major signings in one window was the summer of 2015, ahead of Louis van Gaal’s second and final season as Manchester United manager.
Of these six signings that Ten Hag has made, as mentioned before, three of them have started the last three games – all of which have resulted in wins against Liverpool, Southampton, and Leicester. These three players are the first three signings of the summer in Malacia, Eriksen and Martinez.
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Now, the fourth signing of the summer, Casemiro, has made two substituted appearances so far, however is quite likely to make his first start of the season against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday. Fifth signing of the summer, the £85 million man Antony from Ajax, is also likely to feature against the London outfit, however if he starts is unclear.
There is little doubt that Antony will be a starter going forwards, though.
It’s very rare to have five signings in one summer to all be starters – that’s half the outfield starting XI changing in one summer.
Combined with Martin Dubravka coming in to compete with David de Gea for the No.1 spot, that is effectively a complete 50% change in the starting XI so far under Erik ten Hag. Considering the absolute dross that this squad was producing in the second half of last season, this is an incredibly significant change.
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Of these signings, all of them bar one have been in positions that desperately needed signings when you account for all the outgoings this summer (more on that later); and even the one signing which wasn’t as needed necessarily in Tyrell Malacia (as the club already had three left-backs at the time his signing) has quickly risen to the top of the pecking order in his position.
So, in essence, all six signings have a great and necessary theoretical impact on the squad – and after the first five games of the season, the evidence suggests that this impact is real, too.
Martinez’s energy while defending seems entirely infectious across the rest of the back line, Eriksen’s dynamic ability is creating more movement up front, and Malacia’s energy and balance down the left flank combined with Diogo Dalot’s form on the right is slowly but surely creating a much wider area for United to play in.
Overall, just focusing on those who Erik ten Hag has brought in, it’s an incredibly positive outcome, with all six signings due to have a massive impact on this squad.
Rating - 8.5/10
Who didn’t join?
There is one incredibly glaringly, stupidly, seen-his-name-all-summer-ly name: Frenkie de Jong.
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From minute one, it was obvious that the young Dutch midfielder was Erik ten Hag’s No.1 transfer target. It was reported on several occasions that Ten Hag saw De Jong as integral to the way he wanted Manchester United to play.
The summer window consisted of constant back and forths of information, with reports flying in from England, Spain and the Netherlands all either corroborating or directly opposing each other.
He wanted to leave Barcelona. He wanted to stay. He wanted a new contract. He wanted to play under Erik ten Hag.
Then came the news of his salary reduction, which sent the footballing world into a minor frenzy about what it meant with regards to a transfer. It was widely reported that he wanted to stay in Barcelona, but that this was due to Barcelona owing De Jong around £17 million in deferred wages.
Then came the news that John Murtough and Richard Arnold had themselves flown to Barcelona in order to complete an agreement with Barcelona surrounding a fee, and that fee came to around £80 million including bonuses, where some of this money would then cover the deferred wages.
With a fee all agreed with Barcelona, then came the time to convince Frenkie de Jong to join Manchester United. It was reported that Erik ten Hag had already convinced De Jong to sign through a ‘charm offensive’, but the move never materialised. Frenkie de Jong remained a Barcelona player come 23:00 BST on 1 September, and will remain so until at least January.
The other major player, or more accurately position, which was not recruited was a striker.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s future was up in the air all summer (more on that later), and despite Anthony Martial’s good form in pre-season, the departures of Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata left United incredibly light in terms of the attacking department firepower.
There were multiple names linked, with Marko Arnautovic, Memphis Depay and Mauro Icardi just some mentioned, however there was ultimately no new striker through the Carrington doors this summer window.
Although these two positions not being acquired definitely had a significant impact on the overall success of the window, the acquisition in other areas certainly makes up for it to a large degree.
Rating: 3/10 (with 10 being minimal/zero impact on the window, and 1 being a big impact on the window).
Who didn’t stay?
United had a lot of outgoings from the first team squad this summer – starting with six players whose contracts expired at the end of June: Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata, Edinson Cavani, and goalkeeper Lee Grant, who retired.
While Juan Mata and Lee Grant were not significant losses on the pitch, off the pitch and in the training ground their experience and expertise were incredibly valuable to the club.
The losses of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, to some, signalled the end of a certain era at Manchester United.
While both players gave their all for the club they graduated through the academy at, they were incredibly controversial characters within the fanbase, and despite the loss of talent on the pitch, their departures somewhat contribute to a less toxic atmosphere among fans.
Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani are another pair of characters whose leadership and experience will be sorely missed around United, however in the case of Nemanja Matic and the recruitment of Casemiro, this curtails the impact that Matic’s departure would have had on the squad.
Not signing a striker to replace Cavani adds extra pressure to Martial’s upcoming role at the club, and with his current injury problems, this could become a problem for Erik ten Hag with respect to playing a consistent goal scorer throughout the season.
Moving on to permanent transfers out of the club, United made three: James Garner, Tahith Chong and Andreas Pereira. The former and latter both joined Premier League clubs in Everton and Fulham respectively, with Tahith Chong joining Birmingham. United made around £20 million from the three transfers, with this fee potentially rising close to £30 million when add-ons are included.
With Chong and Pereira’s sales, the timing felt right. Neither player was going to have a realistic impact under Erik ten Hag, however Garner’s sale was different. Having spent an incredibly successful 18 months on loan at Nottingham Forest, many expected Garner to have a shot at challenging for a midfield place at United or potentially going back on loan to a Premier League club.
However, United ultimately thought it would be more worth it to sell Garner while they could, and this may have been down to a number of factors – the summer budget increase, Ten Hag believing that there are better options out there, or potentially even Garner wanting more stability.
United loaned out seven players in the window too, with three of them being first team players and a further three being youngsters.
Eric Bailly and Alex Telles were loaned to Marseille and Sevilla respectively, and both of these transfers were due to the two of them being low in the pecking order in their positions at United. However, Dean Henderson’s case was very different.
Henderson left to join Nottingham Forest on loan for the season, and so far has started well, saving two penalties in the opening six fixtures. Henderson claimed that he went on loan without even talking to Ten Hag, as he was incredibly angry about United’s “criminal” treatment of him the season prior. He wanted to leave on loan to prove a point, and so far that point is being proved well.
The other three loan moves were for Amad to Sunderland, Alvaro Fernandez to Preston, Hannibal Mejbri to Birmingham, and Ethan Laird to QPR.
Fernandez and Laird have started their loan moves well, although Fernandez is currently injured, and all four moves were done with the aim of getting the players more game time – a sensible move from the club.
This set of departures is a mixture of good moves with positive intent and unfortunate moves which have left the club needing to find replacements.
Rating: 6/10
Who didn’t leave?
This section is mostly going to be dedicated to one man: Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was revealed back in early July that Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to leave Manchester United due to both a lack of ambition in the transfer market and a lack of Champions League football for the upcoming season.
The striker was then linked to a whole host of clubs across Europe’s top leagues, most notably Atletico Madrid, Sporting Lisbon and Napoli, although no move ever materialised. It felt like none of Europe’s elite wanted the 37-year-old, and long story short, Ronaldo was still a Manchester United player come 11pm on Thursday evening.
There was a huge mix of reports claiming that Erik ten Hag wanted the player to stay, with others claiming the Dutchman was happy to let him go, however Ten Hag always had the same message whenever questioned on the situation: ‘We have planned for Ronaldo to stay this season’.
Whether that was really true or not is a debate for another day, but the fact of the matter is that Cristiano Ronaldo will spend an eighth season at Old Trafford – and in hindsight, this could be a blessing for the club.
As mentioned above, United failed to sign a striker this summer, and as Ronaldo is now staying, Erik ten Hag will be able to turn to him to contribute a significant number of goals for the upcoming campaign. Ronaldo scored 24 last year, including 18 in the Premier League, and beyond this is a complete and utter professional who will give his all for every game, regardless of how the situation came to be.
It has been reported that Erik ten Hag has given Ronaldo a new ‘challenge’ to thrive under the Dutchman’s leadership, even if the multiple-record holder will likely play fewer games than ever before. It may end up being a marriage of convenience, however as long as the relationship can stay on the positive side, the rewards will be significant.
The other players who were linked with moves away are English pair Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Marcus Rashford.
Wan-Bissaka has lost his place in the side to Diogo Dalot, who has formed part of a formidable back four so far this season, and it was reported that Ten Hag was happy to let the player go. However, after bids for the right-back did not arrive until late in the window, the club ultimately decided to keep the player as time was running out.
Rashford was linked fairly significantly with a move to PSG, with the players' representatives meeting with the Paris club during the window, but Rashford reiterated his desire to stay and continue on Erik ten Hag’s new project and ultimately the rumours fled away.
While it feels that Ronaldo and Wan-Bissaka have stayed at the club purely because they had no other choice, this could come in handy for Erik ten Hag through what is due to be a long and tiresome season.
Ratings: 8/10
Conclusion
United’s window is complicated. There are some moves which give much encouragement, while others leave critics slightly baffled at why they materialised. However, with Cristiano Ronaldo staying, the club making some sensible loan moves for youngsters, moving some necessary players on, and signing 5 starters in one window, it is ultimately an unorthodox yet positive first window for Erik ten Hag.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Casemiro, Antony, Cristiano Ronaldo, Frenkie De Jong
Dylan Penketh