Man United chief Jason Wilcox explains club's transfer activity following "chaotic" 2024 summer market

Manchester United's director of football Jason Wilcox has described the club's 2024 summer transfer window as "chaotic" but said that a clear plan was put in place for the most recent market.

In 2024, after deciding to retain Erik ten Hag as head coach, the Red Devils brought in Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui.

However, Ten Hag was sacked early in the campaign, with Ruben Amorim arriving as his replacement, and the Portuguese has just gone through his first summer transfer window as Man United head coach.

Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens have recently arrived at the club, while teenage defender Diego Leon also made the move from Cerro Porteno.

Wilcox has admitted that the 2024 summer market "was a lot more chaotic", but he revealed that the recent window "was really calm", as a clear plan had been put in place by club chiefs.

Wilcox opens up on "really calm" summer transfer window.

“Last year's summer window [2024] was a lot more chaotic than this one and this one was really calm,” he explains. “With this one, we knew the plan, we knew which players we were going to target, we had our lists, we knew which areas of the pitch we needed to improve," Wilcox told Inside Carrington.

“These are continuous meetings with myself and Ruben [Amorim], with Chris Vivell and with his team underneath, where we are very clear on the profiles that we need.

"So, the brief will come from myself and Ruben, it goes into Chris, there is a lot of debate and discussion around the profiles that we need, and then the scouts will go into the market, we will combine that with the data team and then there will just be constant dialogue.

“Right now, I am having weekly meetings with the recruitment team on the different profiles, the age bracket, the cost, are they attainable, with Ruben as well, so it is a really joined-up approach. When we sign a player, there are so many people that are involved in the process. The data team are involved in the process and we will then focus all our attention on certain players.

“It is really important then that we do the background checks on whether they are clean-living professionals. This is really important. This year, we looked at Premier League-ready players and certainly with Bryan [Mbeumo] and Matheus [Cunha], we couldn't take too much risk in this area. We needed players that we could plug in and play, with little transition time.

Wilcox explains thought process behind Mbeumo, Cunha, Sesko, Lammens arrivals

“Senne [Lammens], we were always looking at goalkeepers that have got huge potential. Senne was available and we decided to move, but it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction. Tony Coton was putting Senne on my radar 12 months ago and he was relentless with it. This guy is going to be a top signing for us and he has started well, but he has got to keep it going. He is very reflective and he is very professional with his approach.

“Benji, at the top end, he's going to be an amazing player. It's difficult to be the no.9 at United and I know sometimes that Matheus and Bryan are getting a lot of credit, but the runs that Benji is making is also helping Matheus and Bryan as well. All four of them have done really well, the summer signings from last year, they are top professionals.

“We've just got to continue to build the spirit, continue to build on Ruben's idea. Ruben has got a very clear idea. It's a lot more flexible, the idea, than what people give it credit for. We have got to start with the end in mind and understand the game model, how Manchester United are, it is really important and we have to put the jigsaw pieces together.

“Putting the jigsaw pieces together, we would love to have all of the pieces in place where we can see a very, very clear picture but, whilst we are building and whilst we are building the picture, it is even more difficult when you lose some football matches because people start questioning things. But we are really clear, myself and Ruben, Omar [Berrada], the ownership, we are really clear on the direction of travel and this is really important.”

Man United, who are eighth in the Premier League table, will be aiming to return to winning ways in England's top flight when they head to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon.