Manchester United transfers

Manchester United need to invest in the coming transfer markets. This will be an analysis of what positions they need and who they can bring in. The piece will be realistic to the current economic market in football and to the position Manchester United are in terms of negotiating strength.

Manchester United need to strengthen in some key positions in order to correctly carry out Erik Ten Hags tactical instructions. The positions are Goalkeeper, Right back, A deep lying playmaker in the midfield and a striker, these are the key areas. In a previous blog the important of the goalkeeper was mentioned, the best option is Diogo Costa of Porto. Only 23, he is an elite player with the ball at his feet. Ranking in the 98th percentile for touches per FBREF he is keen to get involved in the build up, outnumber bing the press from the opposition team. Pictured below is an excellent example, a sensational diagonal pass to the winger who’s through on goal, the perfect assist. Costa is excellent outside the box, a very good sweeper, his high starting position and excellent reading of the game allow him to sweep up passes over the top and regain possession back for his team. He ranks in the 95th percentile for defensive actions outside his own box. This is a major advantage to a possession based side as the defensive line can push up a lot higher, making the team more compact and allowing for a greater press from the front. They don’t have to worry about dropping the defensive line back to stop passes over the top as Costa can sweep up

Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona would be a phenomenal signing for the deep lying play maker role. Coming through at Ajax, he played under current Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag at Ajax and thrived under his guidance. De Jong is a specialist, picking up the ball from deep positions before using his excellent carrying ability to push his team up the pitch. He is an excellent passers, breaking the lines of the press to get his team up the pitch. The Dutch native ranks in the 90th percentile and above for progressive passes and carries, a real key component for a player in a Ten Hag team. United tried to get him in the Summer of 2022 but De Jong did not want to come. Erik ten Hag will hope that a poor first few months at Barca for De Jong will lead to him wanting to leave and join his Manchester United revolution

Ivan Toney from Brentford would be a spectacular choice of a Striker signing. The 26 year old is a proven goal scorer with 54 goals and 19 assists in his last 100 Brentford games. An underrated part of his game is his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play. Third man runs from Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen would thrive from this. Defensively excellent, he plays in a very hard working Brentford side that requires men behind the ball and intense pressing. He would bring his high work ethic and willingness to defend to Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag loves to press high and with Cristiano Ronaldo unable to press and Anthony Martial’s fitness a continual worry, United need a striker and Toney fits the bit excellent. Victor Osimhen is also an excellent option, at 23 years old and standing at 6 foot 1, the Napoli striker has the pace, power and development time to thrive in the premier league. However, he will cost around £100m and due to a lack of funding at the club currently I think it may be an unrealistic option  

There is plenty of options for Manchester United to look at. With a budget of around £120m I think they need to be smart with player sales to gain a bit more money and with that greater spending power