The high spirits at Manchester United from the second half of the 2025–26 season have firmly disappeared.

Miserable results have raised questions about the future of manager Michael Carrick, while center back Lisandro Martínez turned the spotlight on the recruitment department with claims that they had not done enough to build on the exciting start of Carrick’s reign.

The issue is not that United were not active in the summer, but that their priorities may have been wrong at a period in which wider squad reinforcements were needed.

With the benefit of hindsight and the ability to live in a world of what-ifs, here’s how United should have approached the summer transfer window.

Man Utd’s 2026 Summer Signings

Where Man Utd Went Wrong

United have taken a strangely segmented approach to their squad rebuild. In 2025, it was the year of the attack and 2026 was chosen as the time to fix the midfield, with the defense set to follow over the next two windows in 2027.

What that did was saturate the market for themselves and see them miss out on players whose arrivals would have had more significant impacts.

United wanted to rebuild in midfield this summer without much of a long-term plan. Baleba was always going to be a target, but the Tielemans deal came out of nowhere and the expensive acquisition of Santos was an unnecessary risk after the Brazilian’s quiet 18 months in English soccer.

With the benefit of hindsight, could United have walked back their decision to let Casemiro leave? His exit was announced in January, before a major upturn in form had the Brazilian looking like a superstar once again. BBC Sport state his mammoth wages—£350,000 ($469,000) per week—played a part in letting him go, and at a time in which United are trying to cut costs, perhaps that was unavoidable.

The focus on midfield appeared to be driven more by a lack of numbers, rather than a belief the weaknesses elsewhere were not so severe. Years of poor squad-building and the unfortunate timing of Manuel Ugarte’s World Cup injury saw United backed into a corner.

It is no hot take to suggest United needed a left back, while another center back would have been a huge help and even a cheap striker could have worked wonders in a team that has long held concerns about Benjamin Šeško’s battle with injury.

Those jobs were all pushed into the future, and United are now paying the price.

The Players Man Utd Should Have Targeted

First up, let’s not ignore the fact there was a pressing need for midfield reinforcements. Ugarte’s injury and Casemiro’s exit left Kobbie Mainoo as the only natural central midfielder in the first-team squad. Clearly, that needed addressing.

Tielemans was a nice, cheap acquisition and one that United were right to pursue purely from a cost perspective. It would be easy to rely on hindsight and criticize this move, but United were widely praised for getting this deal over the line at the time.

The Belgian should have followed Éderson through the door, but the Red Devils walked away from a $52 million (£39 million) deal for the Brazilian over fitness concerns. Éderson has since started nine out of Atalanta’s 10 games this season, brushing off whatever issue seemed so problematic.

Knowing midfield was on the agenda, United officials seemed laser-focused on Baleba, but that saw them pass up on players like Mamadou Sangaré or Morten Hjulmand. Cheaper options on the market this summer included Neil El Aynaoui, Chema Andrés or even Youssouf Fofana, who is reported to have caught United’s eye during a loan with Sevilla from AC Milan.

Had they saved a little money, United could have sped up their defensive rebuild.

A move for Newcastle United left back Lewis Hall failed to materialize before he signed a new contract and boosted his transfer value. Could United have involved themselves in negotiations for Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde before a failed approach on Deadline Day? Would an early bid for Pep Chavarría have deterred Chelsea? Two more Spaniards, Alejandro Grimaldo and Miguel Gutiérrez, were both on the move this summer.

At center back, Aston Villa’s willingness to sell Ezri Konsa is the sort of deal United should have been all over, even if they had little hope of convincing him to snub Arsenal. Luka Vušković was a no-brainer of a signing that Brighton & Hove Albion were incredibly keen to wrap up when given the chance, while the Red Devils would likely have had enough muscle to beat Leeds United to Tarik Muharemović for $45 million (£34 million).

Would there have still been enough money in the bank to bring in a reliable, veteran striker like Danny Welbeck? His switch to Chelsea was a bargain but he may have been swayed by the chance to return to Old Trafford, where his dependable form would have eased pressure on Šeško and Joshua Zirkzee.

The dreamers could suggest Robert Lewandowski as a target, although his heart seemed set on Major League Soccer when he decided to leave Barcelona. More realistic would have been Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was wildly unsettled at Crystal Palace and a minor knee problem away from joining AC Milan. He would have been a low risk, high reward signing.

Avoidable gaps were left in the United squad, which needed reinforcing all across the pitch ahead of a return to the Champions League and a season that should have brought deeper runs in both domestic cups before the shock Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Brighton. Tunnel vision may have cost the Red Devils.