Manchester United football director John Murtough has hinted at a quiet January window following a £220 million ($246m) summer spend at Old Trafford.
- Big money spent on Antony, Casemiro & Co
- More deals done than initially planned
- Little movement now expected in new year
WHAT HAPPENED? The Red Devils invested heavily in fresh faces after bringing in Erik ten Hag as their new manager, with big-money deals pushed through for Lisandro Martinez, Antony, Tyrell Malacia and Casemiro while Christian Eriksen was snapped up as a free agent and Martin Dubravka was taken on loan from Newcastle. United are now looking to tighten the purse strings, with little movement expected when another transfer market opens for business in the new year.
WHAT THEY SAID: Murtough, speaking at United’s September fans’ forum, has said: “We brought in five regular first-team starters on permanent transfers and a high-quality back-up goalkeeper on loan. We ended the summer slightly ahead of where we expected to be in terms of the number of players brought in, so we don’t anticipate the same level of activity in future windows, although we will continue to strengthen. The next step was reshaping the squad and we worked closely with Erik throughout the summer to agree on who to bring in, and who we would allow to leave. As always, there was a lot of media noise and speculation to contend with but ultimately by the end of the window we were happy with where we ended up.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: United have found value hard to come by at times in recent windows, but Malacia, Casemiro, Martinez, Eriksen and Antony have settled quickly and can be expected to contribute significantly to collective efforts in 2022-23.
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WHAT NEXT? While the Red Devils are not expecting to splash the cash again in January, they are still being linked with a number of potential additions and will keep an eye out for any potential bargains that emerge during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
