Manchester United transfer news: Why the Red Devils have turned to the Premier League market

Manchester United have long earned an unwanted reputation as a graveyard for players, particularly during a turbulent decade marked by poor decisions and inconsistent performances. Time and again, the club has spent heavily on standouts from abroad, only for those players to fall short of expectations once at Old Trafford.

Take Antony, for example. The Brazilian winger, signed from Ajax in 2022 for €95m (around £82.5m), needed just six months away from United to look revitalised on loan at Real Betis last season. Prior to that, he had struggled to adapt to the intensity and physical demands of English football, a far cry from the more technical Dutch Eredivisie.

Antony is far from the only one. In the past three years, the likes of Tyrell Malacia, Rasmus Hojlund, Sofyan Amrabat and Joshua Zirkzee have all arrived from foreign leagues but made minimal impact in Manchester. Some still remain at the club, but the jury is out on whether they will succeed long-term.

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United have spent over £600m on non-English league signings

According to Transfermarkt, Manchester United have invested €698.5m (£606m) on 22 first-team signings across the last three seasons. Only seven of those players had any prior experience of English football. They cost a combined €73m (£63.4m) – just 10% of United’s total spend.

Aside from Mason Mount, who accounted for the bulk of that figure, none of the English-experienced players were signed to be key figures. Instead, most were squad fillers such as Christian Eriksen and Jonny Evans, or short-term loan solutions like Sergio Reguilon, Wout Weghorst, Martin Dubravka, and Jack Butland.

That said, Premier League experience alone is not a guaranteed formula for success. United’s problems go deeper than the playing squad, with issues rooted in poor management decisions and tactical inconsistencies. It’s worth noting that Bruno Fernandes, arguably United’s best performer since 2020, had never played in England prior to arriving from Sporting CP.

Still, the club appear to be shifting their focus towards players already accustomed to the pace and rigour of the Premier League, a trend visible in their 2025/26 transfer strategy.

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Targeting Premier League-proven stars for quicker results

United’s first summer acquisition was Matheus Cunha, arriving from Wolves in a £62.5m deal. The Brazilian striker netted 27 goals across his last two Premier League campaigns and has been handed the number 10 shirt as a statement signing to partner Fernandes in attack. In a quieter move, Diego Leon, a young Paraguayan left-back, was brought in as backup.

Next came Bryan Mbeumo, a player with six years’ experience in English football – four of them in the top flight with Brentford. The Cameroonian delivered 20 goals and seven assists in 2024-25, and has hit double figures for goal involvements in three separate seasons. He joined for £65m, with a further £6m in potential bonuses.

Despite the arrivals of Cunha and Mbeumo, United are still targeting a new centre-forward, suggesting that Hojlund and Zirkzee may not be in the club’s long-term plans. Last season saw United record just 44 goals, their worst output in a top-flight season since 1974-75 – when they were relegated.

According to Sky Sports, United have shortlisted three strikers: Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea), and Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig). Watkins, in particular, has scored 11+ goals in each of the last four Premier League campaigns, while Jackson enters his third year in England.

The signings of Cunha and Mbeumo represent United’s most significant investment in Premier League players since 2019-20, when they spent £124m to land Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. In terms of strikers, their last big domestic push dates back to 2017-18, with Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.

Among the foreign signings from recent windows – Antony, Hojlund, Zirkzee, Casemiro, Ugarte, Lisandro Martínez – few have delivered on the pitch. Unsurprisingly, United slipped from eighth to 15th place in the Premier League in 2024/25, one of their worst finishes in decades.

The first two of those three windows were overseen by the Glazer family, in charge since 2005. But the 2024-25 campaign was the first under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s football department. The club invested over £212m that summer, signing seven players, all from outside the UK – none of whom made an immediate impact.

While signing Premier League-ready players does not guarantee silverware, it does shorten the adaptation curve, something that could prove decisive as manager Ruben Amorim aims to steady the ship.

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A fresh start under Amorim?

The Portuguese boss has publicly committed to resetting the culture at United in 2025-26. Fans will get their first glimpse on 17 August, when the Red Devils kick off their Premier League season with a high-stakes clash against Arsenal, who have finished runners-up three seasons in a row.

“We now have a choice: stay stuck in the past, fighting among ourselves, or unite and move forward. After a disastrous season, better days are on the way,” Amorim said after the final match of the 2024/25 season.

Major Manchester United signings since 2022-23 :

(Players with prior English experience in bold)

2022-23 :
• Antony
• Casemiro
• Lisandro Martínez
• Tyrell Malacia
• Wout Weghorst (loan)
• Martin Dubravka (loan)
• Christian Eriksen
• Marcel Sabitzer (loan)
• Jack Butland (loan)

2023-24 :
• Rasmus Hojlund
• Mason Mount
• Andre Onana
• Sofyan Amrabat
• Altay Bayındır
• Jonny Evans
• Sergio Reguilon (loan)

2024-25 :
• Leny Yoro
• Manuel Ugarte
• Matthijs de Ligt
• Joshua Zirkzee
• Patrick Dorgu
• Noussair Mazraoui

 

This article was originally published on Trivela.