Manchester United were outspent by all three newly-promoted clubs in the summer transfer window, leaving Michael Carrick without the new left-back, winger or striker he needed despite guiding the side to a third-place finish.
United spent £148.3m in the window, all of it on three midfielders. Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans arrived for a combined £78.3m before pre-season, while Carlos Baleba was signed a week before the deadline for £70m – the club's biggest outlay of the summer. Karl Darlow also arrived on a free transfer as a backup goalkeeper.
Outspent by promoted sides
All three promoted clubs spent more than United. Ipswich splashed £189.3m with a net spend of £172.7m, Hull paid out £150.7m at a net spend of £133.3m, and Coventry spent £127.1m but recouped only £4.4m from sales, ending with a net spend £23m higher than the 20-time champions.
United also failed to match rivals in the market. Manchester City paid a record £116m for United's priority target Elliot Anderson, later eclipsing that with £125m for Enzo Fernandez and £86m for Ayyoub Bouaddi, completing a midfield overhaul with a net spend of £162m. Tottenham, who finished 17th in the past two seasons, spent £85m on United's second preferred option, Mateus Fernandes, from relegated West Ham, and later added Sandro Tonali for £100m, reaching a total outlay of £314m with a net spend of £173m.
Defensive concerns
The lack of investment in defence saw Carrick forced to line up with the same back four against Ipswich that started United's 4-0 defeat at Brentford in Erik ten Hag's first away match in August 2022. Luke Shaw stayed fit for an entire season for the first time in his 12 years at the club, playing all 38 league matches, but with no European football or cup runs, that was only the fourth highest number of appearances he has made in a single campaign at United.
Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are the only two options to cover at left-back, with United having only three out-and-out full-backs this season. Newcastle's Lewis Hall was the club's top target, but reports that a £60m bid would only bring the Magpies to the table left United convinced they wouldn't finance the deal. Attempts to loan Barcelona's Alejandro Balde or Manchester City's Rayan Ait Nouri also failed, and the position was left unaddressed.
Winger and striker plans shelved
A new winger and striker were shelved after Marcus Rashford's £300,000-per-week wages could not be taken off the club's bill as the 28-year-old remained at the club having failed to find an exit. Joshua Zirkzee also could not bring in a substantial fee elsewhere.
United began the season with a humiliating 2-0 defeat against Hull before a 5-2 win at home against Ipswich. Defensively, United shipped four goals in two games to two sides heavily tipped for the drop, leaving Carrick with a concerning start to the season on and off the pitch.
