Manchester United needed a significant roster revamp after finishing in 15th place the previous season, and they did, at least in two key areas.
Senne Lammens was acquired by the Red Devils from Royal Antwerp on deadline day for an estimated £22 million plus add-ons. This is a significant sum for a 23-year-old who has only made 64 professional appearances for the Belgian team.
Although Altay Bayındır has not excelled in his three Premier League appearances, goalkeeper was undoubtedly needed after André Onana’s disastrous performance against Grimsby last Wednesday, which saw them eliminated from the EFL Cup for the first time ever by fourth-tier opponents.
Aside from this last-minute signing, Rúben Amorim’s team has only added attackers, spending a total of £207 million to assemble a completely new front three.
But in the end, might one of these attackers end up being a steal, particularly in comparison to the top target Man United lost out on?
Manchester United’s midfield situation
There is a tremendous chaos as a result of Manchester United’s surprising failure to buy a new midfield player this summer.
According to reports earlier in the window, Manchester United and Brighton had held preliminary discussions about the possibility of signing Carlos Baleba. However, this was swiftly put out of the running because the Seagulls would only be willing to sell for about the £115 million Chelsea paid to sign Moisés Caicedo two years ago.
To Kobbie Mainoo’s dismay, it seems probable that Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro will continue to be Amorim’s first-choice midfield duo because the Cameroonian international did not arrive at Old Trafford.
The England international was brought on at halftime against Burnley on Saturday after playing 0 minutes in the opening two Premier League games. The club categorically turned down his loan request last week.
Considering that Man United’s next game is away at the Etihad, adding Mainoo to the squad seems obvious because the 20-year-old can handle a variety of issues, as he demonstrated for England during their run to the Euros final.
Maybe the Red Devils didn’t need Baleba after all, and they weren’t prepared to break their transfer record to get him, but might one of their summer acquisitions end up being a steal?
Manchester United’s shrewd investment
Old Trafford most definitely did not seem to be Benjamin Šeško’s most likely destination at the beginning of the window.
It seemed obvious that the Slovenian would leave Saxony after RB Leipzig failed to qualify for any European competition due to their seventh-place result in the Bundesliga previous season.
Due in part to Leipzig’s outrageous asking price, Arsenal, who seemed to be the front-runners to sign him, decided to sign Viktor Gyökeres instead.
As the Alexander Isak story progressed, Newcastle agreed to pay Šeško to join them. However, Manchester United intervened and persuaded him to join them rather than move to Tyneside after the Magpies had completed all the necessary preparations.
Jason Wilcox, the sports director of Manchester United, claimed upon his arrival that the striker “possesses a rare combination of electrifying pace and the ability to physically dominate defenders” and that he will reach his “world-class potential” with the club.
Even if all conditions are met, the ultimate price paid for Šeško is £66.3 million plus £7.4 million in add-ons, which is less than the £108 million that the CIES Football Observatory estimates his transfer value to be.
In the meantime, they also think Baleba is worth about £75 million, which supports Man United’s decision to not pursue the transaction further in light of Brighton’s extremely high demands.
Therefore, even if Šeško hasn’t scored yet, time is on his side because he is only 22 years old and has shown himself to be a dependable goal scorer by scoring 39 goals in two seasons at Leipzig in addition to the 14 goals he has scored for Slovenia.
Therefore, even though Manchester United hasn’t been very astute during the transfer market in a decade or more, they may have just hit gold here, undoubtedly enhancing their current choices.
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