This has been a CRAZY transfer window for all clubs not just United. I've never seen a window like it ❌.

Reaction to window here.

But for United specifically, we knew that there was a HELL OF A LOT of business that needed to be done both incomings and outgoings.

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After having our worst season ever last year, drastic measures needed to be taken. Some would say that we had to get rid of the whole team and buy a completely new one. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that.

Unfortunately though, as much as that was what we perhaps truly required, it is impossible to do such business all in one window. What United needed to do instead was prioritize which areas of the team needed the most improving now and work their way from there.

In terms of the outgoings, did we remove those who desperately needed to go as well as some others who may not have been a priority sale but were sold nonetheless for one reason or the other?

So, when looking at our transfer business, have we actually managed to achieve what we would deem successful? Have we done enough in order to make this season a triumph?

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Incomings

Before we talk about the players themselves, here are the criteria I believe they needed to tick in order for the transfer to be a complete success:

• Correct Position
• Quality
• Age and Experience
• PL-proven (nice to have)
• Signing Fee
• Time to do deal

When looking at the positions in the team that were top priority, I would say:

• Striker
• Goalkeeper
• Wing-backs

Second priority

• Attacking Midfielder
• Midfielder

Okay, I suppose that that is pretty much an entire new team but have we actually brought in those players?

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Matheus Cunha

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The first signing of the window, I would say the Brazilian's deal was the perfect transfer.

While I didn't think that bringing in an attacking midfielder was of utmost importance considering we have a plethora of players for those two positions (Bruno, Amad, Mount, Zirkzee and potentially Mainoo), I would say that in spite of such players and knowing that the most creative of them all (Bruno) was going to be played deeper, we did need one more creative forward.

In Cunha, we signed one of the best in the league. With a strong return of 15 goals and 6 assists for Wolves last season, a lot of us were really excited with this player. He is also a maverick of a footballer as he has this ability to make things happen and is someone who doesn't shy away from a fight.

I love his hotheaded-ness.

He certainly ticks the position and quality boxes.

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As for age and experience, Cunha is only 25 years old yet has been around for a good bit. He's also played in Germany for RB Leipzig, Spain for Atletico Madrid and the last couple of years with Wolves in the PL making him Premier League proven too, which is a nice to have.

To then think we signed him for £62.5m, I believe that that is a bargain given all that we get for that price. United also got this deal done pretty quickly as he signed in no time. This meant he came into the side early, got used to his new team-mates and manager, and played all of pre-season allowing for him to be fresh and ready for the campaign.

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Cunha has started all four of United's games so far but unfortunately, picked up an injury in the recent win over Burnley. Amorim was visibly upset seeing his new star man going off. A sign of the importance of this player despite being so early into his time at the club.

To be honest, I can find nothing wrong with this transfer. He even fits the system perfectly.

Transfer Rating - 10/10.

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Bryan Mbeumo

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This was a player and deal that I wasn't expecting. At all.

When David Ornstein dropped that news at the start of June that Mbeumo wants to join United and only United, that had us all in a frenzy. Knowing the quality of player he is and so soon after signing Cunha, this seemed like dreamland for a club who finished 15th, went trophy-less, lost a final to Spurs and are in turmoil from top to bottom.

The Manchester United pull was real with this one.

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When looking at my criteria, Mbeumo and his transfer actually tick a lot of the boxes. Similarly to Cunha, the Cameroonian is top quality (20 goals and 8 assists for Brentford last season. Those 20 goals was 1 fewer than United's entire attack managed), is at the right age of 25, has that experience, is Premier League-proven and while he may have been slightly over what we wanted to pay for at £71m, it wasn't a deal breaker.

The problem with this Mbeumo transfer was how long it took to complete. As he wanted just United, that would've ruled out any other competition which may have resulted in United moving at a snail's pace in terms of bringing him to Old Trafford.

I don't think many would've mind a couple of weeks, but 6?! That was far too many.

June 2nd was the date of that Ornstein bomb. Mbeumo signed for United on July 21st which was just before the pre-season tour. As a result, he wasn't fit enough to play much whilst in America as he only featured for the second half of the final game which was a 2-2 draw with Everton.

Upon starting this season, one could see that he was slightly sluggish and off the pace with his first two performances. However, in the recent two matches, we've started to see a player who is fitter and more in tune with the rhythm of the team and league.

It's not ideal to be having a player join late as it means not being ready for pre-season and/or the start of the season which can make a difference.

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Then there's the position he plays in. This was and still is the biggest issue.

I've got no problems with Mbeumo nor him wanting to join our club. In fact, it's actually a great thing to have a player of that quality want to join United even though we're you know, shite. Shows you there is something about us.

The problem I have with him is his position.

With Amorim's 3-4-3/3-4-2-1, we know we have two no 10s. United already had Bruno, Amad, Mount, Zirkzee and potentially Mainoo. We then added Cunha.

SIX players for just TWO positions. That is far too many.

I knew that Bruno would be playing deeper given how Amorim has used him which means one more spot was available in attacking midfield but that still left five other players. Unless some of them were going to leave, it didn't make sense to sign another no 10.

However, now that he is here and has played well so far (Mbeumo has been nominated for August player of the month along with Yoro and De Ligt), I don't have too many complaints especially because Bruno has been playing as the no 8, and Amad and Mainoo have been poor or out of the team. Mount is unreliable depsite having a good start to the season, Zirkzee has just come back from injury and Cunha has just gotten injured.

Now, I'm pretty happy with Mbeumo.

Transfer Rating - 7.5/10.

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Benjamin Sesko

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He was NOT our first-choice striker target. This doesn't mean that he isn't a good choice but we all know that United were desperate for the now Chelsea man Liam Delap who was followed by the new Gunners hitman Viktor Gyokeres. Then there was Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike and at some point Galatasaray's Victor Osimhen.

We then got to the point of Sesko or Villa's Olle Watkins.

I preferred Watkins. When looking at that criteria, the Englishman ticks all of those boxes. Sesko, doesn't, at least not all of them.

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We needed a striker. He is a striker. He checks that box. There's no doubting his ability as a no 9 with the potential to be one of the greats. Those are positives as well.

At £74m you can say that he was a bit overpriced for a plyer who is young and not entirely proven who also happens to come from the Bundesliga. I do like that we managed to get this deal done relatively quickly but that fee was a little excessive, imo.

Once Mbeumo was completed, the next thing we knew we had a 'Here we go' for Sesko he was then signing the contract and stepped out onto the pitch at Old Trafford before the Arsenal game.

However, the issue was how late a striker was brought in rather than how long it took for the Sesko deal specifically to get done. This late deal meant he didn't have a pre-season with United (although he was involved in Leipzig's) before his move. Due to this late transfer, he wasn't able to play against Arsenal and has only made one start in four games this season which was the defeat to Grimsby.

That match highlighted his fitness level problems even further as because he played the whole game and was involved in the never ending penalty shootout, he couldn't start the win over Burnley just three days later as Amorim confirmed that the Slovenian had cramps after having played as long as he did in the Carabao Cup.

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I feel like his price tag and how long the deal took would make little difference if he was someone like Mbeumo. The Cameroonian's transfer took much longer and cost around the same but as he is at a good age (25) and is PL-proven, people don't talk about it being a risky transfer. We can also see what a difference those factors make.

Sesko is neither of those. At 22 years old, he is still quite young although he has been around for some time playing for both RB clubs, Salzburg and Leipzig. He was brought to them by Christopher Vivell, United's Head of Recruitment. He was reported to be the driving force behind bringing him to Old Trafford as well.

That age suggests he is more a developmental striker than a ready-made one. Having not played in the Premier League, that could be a problem too.

This is no slight to Sesko as I do believe he is a top player but his transfer rating has to be a 5/10.

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Senne Lammens

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The latest and last of the incomings this window was the addition of Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammes from Royal Antwerp.

He is not a name many know and nor is he a player that many know about, with all due respect. As he is now our player, he is no doubt the greatest goalkeeper in football history 😅.

At £18m, it isn't a fee that would make us all feel we overspent nor one where we feel we lose out on money if he does end up flopping. It's a pretty cheap deal is what I'm saying.

It was also a transfer that was done somewhat quickly however, when you look at when we were initially in for him, that would add time to his deal.

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United were in need of a goalkeeper. Many would say that it was a priority position. The fact that it was left until deadline day to be filled is a problem. It's great that we have a new goalkeeper but signing him this late and the fact that he's young and inexperienced are factors that could have huge ramifications during the course of the season.

Similarly to Sesko, Lammens is 23 which for a GK is like 19 for an outfield player. He's spent all of his career in Belgium. He has no PL experience and as there's little known about him, we have no idea whether he's got the quality required to be United's no 1 or not. As we've seen over decades, finding the right 'keeper is easier said than done.

Out of all the deals we've completed, this one excites me the least, with all due respect to Lammens. It is also the signing that worries me the most.

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Goalkeeper was a red flag from last season as both Onana and Bayindir did little to fill us with confidence. Carrying on into this season, and they've showed us that we certainly need new shot-stoppers. Not one, but two. Both have caused us to lose games just four matches into the new campaign.

There were reports of the club not deeming goalkeeper a priority position to improve upon earlier in the window. Why that was the case is something I cannot understand. It's almost as if they didn't watch us last season. All of us could have seen how things were going to unfold with Onana and Bayindir this season so why couldn't the club?

For them to go on and sign a young goalie from Belgium whom everyone knows very little about is a HUGE risk. This wasn't a position where we could afford to take risks. Sesko is a risk but as we have the likes of Cunha, Mbeumo, Bruno and others to help chip in with goals, he doesn't have as much pressure on him compared to his new team-mate in goal.

Sides will target Lammens knowing that he is new, inexperienced and not PL-proven. Some would say we don't know whether he will actually be the starting 'keeper due to his profile.

I don't rate this transfer at all. 3/10. It all relies on Lammens coming in and being brilliant from the get go.

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Outgoings

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Only Tyrell Malacia of the 'bomb squad' has remained. I don't really care much about the deals themselves but just removing the likes of Garnacho, Sancho, Rashford and Antony was important.

They may not have played a major part in our worst season in living memory but they needed to go all the same. They were part of the old regime and part of the problems in our squad.

But as we did most of those deals quite late and not for the best deals (I know I said I don't care about them but for the club, they weren't the best), it made those departures worse than they should've been.

We also didn't sell Rashford and Sancho although the removal of most of their wages does make a difference.

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But those were the obvious departures. What about the not-so-obvious ones?

Bruno was the biggest potential player to leave. He stayed. Looking back on it now, I feel we messed up by not taking the £100m. That type of money would've made a MASSIVE difference and it would've freed up a space in the team, one that would've allowed us to buy a player who is better suited to that position than the skipper. Carlos Baleba would've been perfect.

Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Onana are three others that I believe we should've sold. I don't think they're good enough, they earn a lot of money, Casemiro is done at the top level, Shaw is unreliable and Onana is well, Onana.

Sell even one of those and I would've taken INEOS a lot more seriously.

And that's pretty much the outgoings. We've also loaned a couple youngsters (Collyer and Amass) but nothing else.

Outgoings Rating - 4/10.

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Final Thoughts

I won't say that this has been a failure of a window but nor will I say it's been a riproaring success. While the signings of Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko in particular are very exciting and United have upgraded their entire front line, this meant that we neglected other more pressing areas of concern like the goalkeeper.

Lammens is a prospect but we don't know whether he's a promising prospect or not. We didn't sort the midfield out which as pre-season was unfolding, we could see was as high a priority as striker and goalkeeper. To have a roster of just Casemiro, Ugarte, Mainoo and Bruno, who isn't an actual CM, is frightening. For Amorim to be going into this all important campaign with such a midfield is quite scary.

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I will admit that it's great we got rid of the 'bomb squad' or at least most of it, but doing so late in the window and not selling anyone else has been a failure. Most of the squad that featured in that embarrassment of a final against Spurs and was part of our worst-ever season has remained.

If we truly want to see progress, we need to move those players on. We've seen the start to the season and while there has been improvements in certain areas, much of it is the same as last season. This could be down to the personnel that has stayed.

Keeping such players also poses the question of how long before they drag the new signings down to their level?

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Given the signings made and those let go off, the type of players we've brought in and whether they tick all of those criteria boxes, as well as the departures, I would give this window an overall rating of 5.5/10.

I know it was impossible to do all the business required in one window but I don't believe we prioritized those areas that needed the most improving. Striker, goalkeeper and midfield were the top three areas and all we've gotten is a young and inexperienced striker, an even younger goalkeeper and no midfielder.

Signing Mbeumo and Cunha are great but failure to sell more than what we have isn't.

From what we saw last season, we needed large amounts of improvement. We didn't get that.

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Do you agree with me that this window has been massively underwhelming? Or am I talking shite? What are your thoughts about the transfer window and how would you rate it?

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All Business

Signings

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Matheus Cunha

Bryan Mbeumo

Benjamin Sesko

Senne Lammens

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Departures

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Marcus Rashford (Barcelona - loan + buy option)

Toby Collyer (West Brom - loan)

Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea - £40m)

Antony (Real Betis - £22m)

Jadon Sancho (Aston Villa - loan)

Harry Amass (Sheffield Wednesday - loan)

Rasmus Hojlund (Napoli - loan obligation to buy)

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Old Trafford | Photo by Winston Tjia on Unsplash

Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, Senne Lammens and Bryan Mbeumo | Images via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)