Rate the Summer 2024 Window

Rate the summer 2024ntransfer window (0 = complete failure, 10 = perfect in every way)

  • 0

    Votes: 2 0.5%

  • 1

    Votes: 2 0.5%

  • 2

    Votes: 4 1.0%

  • 3

    Votes: 6 1.5%

  • 4

    Votes: 5 1.2%

  • 5

    Votes: 14 3.4%

  • 6

    Votes: 41 10.1%

  • 7

    Votes: 90 22.1%

  • 8

    Votes: 163 40.0%

  • 9

    Votes: 65 16.0%

  • 10

    Votes: 15 3.7%
  • Total voters
    407
I went for 7 but was thinking of going for 8 instead. Very happy with the signings and the outgoings. Would have liked to have seen an additional forward player and midfielder signed but of course that was going to be reliant on us moving some more players out.

But this window was definitely a good one more than a crap one that we were accustomed to under the old regime. Breath of fresh air so far under INEOS .
 
Understand reasons why McT had to go, but I think we may well regret his leaving.... Mr 'odd-job'/utility' squad player.
Scott was never going to be in a future first team line-up, but he was happy to be brought on when changes needed, or injuries struck. Every club needs at least one such player, with versatility, especially one who plays with heart and genuine love for the club.

Smart man Antonio Conti!
 
Maticmaker said:
Understand reasons why McT had to go, but I think we may well regret his leaving.... Mr 'odd-job'/utility' squad player.
Scott was never going to be in a future first team line-up, but he was happy to be brought on when changes needed, or injuries struck. Every club needs at least one such player, with versatility, especially one who plays with heart and genuine love for the club.

Smart man Antonio Conti!
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He wanted to start more games.
 
I go 6. There is promise but no proof yet.
At the end of the season is a better time to judge.
 
It's been decent, but I said earlier that we didn't really strengthen the attack and that will cost us a top 4 finish. We're far too lightweight upfront
 
I got blasted for saying this a few weeks ago, but failing to get all of our transfer business sorted ASAP and therefore failing to have our new signings ready to go at the beginning of the season has real consequences.

We should've been on top of the Ugarte signing immediately after the Copas and he should have been in training weeks ahead of our first match. If that had happened and he'd been in the squad instead of Casemiro these last two matches, maybe we don't drop 6 points.

You don't see this happen in any other professional sport. You sign your new players in the offseason, they train with their new teams in the offseason, and they're ready to go on opening day.
 
The most over rated transfer window in the history of football. Well maybe second behind Everton in 2017 or whenever it was they spunked money on Klaasen and some others.
The only good thing about it is we didn’t get ripped off for any transfers but that’s such a low benchmark.

- I think the first teamers signed offer marginal improvement. De Ligt and Ugarte. Certainly not game changers who’ll take us from 8th to top 4.
Zirkzee has essentially replaced sancho and id be shocked if he outperforms the latter.

Mazraoui replaced AWB which is helpful from an attacking aspect, but probably not from a defensive one. Probably should have signed another left back…

Not replacing McTominay was a bit stupid as I feel we’re now short in midfield. Were lacking athleticism in there.

So yeah a 5/10 window that lots declared as great for some reason. Not being ripped off should be the bare minimum expected. Apart from Zirkzee what we spend on the others I don’t think there were better options out there for that price so that’s where it gets a 5 from me.
 
Todd said:
I got blasted for saying this a few weeks ago, but failing to get all of our transfer business sorted ASAP and therefore failing to have our new signings ready to go at the beginning of the season has real consequences.

We should've been on top of the Ugarte signing immediately after the Copas and he should have been in training weeks ahead of our first match. If that had happened and he'd been in the squad instead of Casemiro these last two matches, maybe we don't drop 6 points.

You don't see this happen in any other professional sport. You sign your new players in the offseason, they train with their new teams in the offseason, and they're ready to go on opening day.
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Agree. Started promising with Yoro but petered out. Should have had at least 3 or 4 ready to start the first game.
 
Ludens the Red said:
The most over rated transfer window in the history of football. Well maybe second behind Everton in 2017 or whenever it was they spunked money on Klaasen and some others.
The only good thing about it is we didn’t get ripped off for any transfers but that’s such a low benchmark.

- I think the first teamers signed offer marginal improvement. De Ligt and Ugarte. Certainly not game changers who’ll take us from 8th to top 4.
Zirkzee has essentially replaced sancho and id be shocked if he outperforms the latter.

Mazraoui replaced AWB which is helpful from an attacking aspect, but probably not from a defensive one. Probably should have signed another left back…

Not replacing McTominay was a bit stupid as I feel we’re now short in midfield. Were lacking athleticism in there.

So yeah a 5/10 window that lots declared as great for some reason. Not being ripped off should be the bare minimum expected. Apart from Zirkzee what we spend on the others I don’t think there were better options out there for that price so that’s where it gets a 5 from me.
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Yep. Badly needed a wide attacker to guarantee double digit goals and/or assists. Disappointing after being linked to Olise.
Can’t be relying on youth in attack, but hope I’m wrong.
 
We still need a backup/competition for Onana. We don't have a left back (hard to say so until one proves to actually be capable of playing). And we have absolutely no numbers in midfield. We're super light upfront too. So we're far away from having anything that resembles a squad capable of anything special.

Some players were sold, others not given new deals, and all in all it was more than I expected, but less than I hoped for.

Not sold on Zirkzee, delighted with Ugarte (on paper still), think de Ligt will prove to be an excellent purchase, Mazraoui was good business for small money, and Yoro is a very exciting signing.

Also very happy to see the club snapping up highly promising young players.

7/10.
 
The number one issue, which has been an issue since the 18-19 season is the lack of a midfielder comfortable taking the ball in deep areas and passing it through the lines. Until we sort that out we will never have a window better than a 6-7. It's such a fundamental part of a team looking to play proper football.
 
I honestly think that people who are saying that it’s a bad transfer window are (very understandably) being caught up in the negativity. I mean yes, we should be being negative - we lost 3-0 at home to the scum and were outperformed. However, to pooh-pooh our summer transfer window is to be overly negative. It was definitely a good summer window. My view of it has gone down after Zirkzee’s horror show yesterday, but it is definitely still a great first summer transfer window for INEOS. Getting rid of deadwood like VdB, Sancho, McTominay, and AWB is definitely a plus. And there is absolutely no guarantee that players like Rabiot and Toney would have improved us - they’d have been just like Falcao, di María, Pogba, Sánchez, Ronaldo MK II, Varane, Casemiro, and every other galáctico signing we’ve made over the past decade. They would have been typical Glazer signings, and there would have been next to zero chance that they’d have turned out like Van Persie or even to a lesser extent Ibrahimović.
 
Todd said:
I got blasted for saying this a few weeks ago, but failing to get all of our transfer business sorted ASAP and therefore failing to have our new signings ready to go at the beginning of the season has real consequences.

We should've been on top of the Ugarte signing immediately after the Copas and he should have been in training weeks ahead of our first match. If that had happened and he'd been in the squad instead of Casemiro these last two matches, maybe we don't drop 6 points.

You don't see this happen in any other professional sport. You sign your new players in the offseason, they train with their new teams in the offseason, and they're ready to go on opening day.
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Which teams got all of their business sorted by the start of the league? It doesn't work like you think it does. Not every deal can be done in July. Not every deal can be done in a few days. Not every deal is straightforward and easy to complete, due to a variety of factors. There are always opportunities late in the window that weren't there just a few weeks ago. We also struggled with cash flow, hence the need to sell before buying new players. And it's very important not to cave in to every demand and overpay for players. We had the upper hand against both Bayern and PSG, which resulted in deals successfully done on our own terms. If what you said was plausible, no well-run club would do any deals past early August, but that's never the case. You're just frustrated because we lost and suddenly everything is bad and shit.
Ludens the Red said:
The most over rated transfer window in the history of football. Well maybe second behind Everton in 2017 or whenever it was they spunked money on Klaasen and some others.
The only good thing about it is we didn’t get ripped off for any transfers but that’s such a low benchmark.

- I think the first teamers signed offer marginal improvement. De Ligt and Ugarte. Certainly not game changers who’ll take us from 8th to top 4.
Zirkzee has essentially replaced sancho and id be shocked if he outperforms the latter.

Mazraoui replaced AWB which is helpful from an attacking aspect, but probably not from a defensive one. Probably should have signed another left back…

Not replacing McTominay was a bit stupid as I feel we’re now short in midfield. Were lacking athleticism in there.

So yeah a 5/10 window that lots declared as great for some reason. Not being ripped off should be the bare minimum expected. Apart from Zirkzee what we spend on the others I don’t think there were better options out there for that price so that’s where it gets a 5 from me.
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You think Zirkzee won't outperform Sancho?

And how exactly is AWB better than Mazraoui from a defensive aspect? AWB is a great tackler and in my opinion the best 1v1 defender in the world, but football is a team game. Overall, even defensively, Mazraoui is the better fit for us. And it's not like AWB had a world class all-round game defensively. How many times did we concede because his positioning was awful, or couldn't defend his back post, or just had a major lapse of concentration?
 
On a player in v player out basis its been a very good window. De Ligt & Yoro are an improvement on Varane & Kambwala. Ugarte, Mazraoui & Zirkzee are better than McTominay, Awb & Martial.

But from a squad perspective. Is that what we really needed, was that the priority?
57 league goals last season (5 more than Luton)- 58 the season before, 57 before that.

In the last 3 seasons we've been outscored significantly every season by the big 6 + Newcastle. Aside from once when we outscored Newcastle and Chelsea in separate seasons.

A DM and 3 defenders plus Zirkzee is suddenly going to resolve our goalscoring issues?

Sancho and Greenwood were both wide players who at one stage had alot of goalscoring potential. But both are gone and neither have ever been replaced.

In midfield we've brought in Ugarte who looks to be a superb signing but are down overall in numbers through others leaving. And we have Ericsson and casemiro both a year older and likely starting regularly due to our heavy schedule.

I think in terms of the midfield and attack we are very much one or two injuries or suspensions away from a crisis. Just look at the bench today for instance and this is the start of the season with one game a week. The squad is very thin in areas and lacking of competition.

I understand the above sounds very negative. I don't dispute that on a player v player basis we have better individuals than what we had last season. I just don't think we've done enough to tackle what I consider more worrying deficiencies in other areas of the pitch.

From a goals conceded point of view our defence has actually been better than most of our rivals (big 6/7?) in the league over the last few seasons.

I rate it a 6.5.
 
I’ve given a conservative 6. I think we needed an extra CM for depth, Amrabat would have been perfect but maybe Collyer will be that player. So 7 is fair. Thats only for incomings.

I think sales were still a bit disappointing. A proper breakthrough statement sale that also improved the team would have been great. Also still stuck with 2 players the manager wanted out this summer. But it’s possible they will get sorted in Jan, can’t see Maguire and Casemiro hanging about if they can’t get into the team.
 
The Irish Connection said:
Yep. Badly needed a wide attacker to guarantee double digit goals and/or assists. Disappointing after being linked to Olise.
Can’t be relying on youth in attack, but hope I’m wrong.
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Yeah deffo, I think we should have looked at someone more proven with end product than Zirkzee.
Rojofiam said:
You think Zirkzee won't outperform Sancho?

And how exactly is AWB better than Mazraoui from a defensive aspect? AWB is a great tackler and in my opinion the best 1v1 defender in the world, but football is a team game. Overall, even defensively, Mazraoui is the better fit for us. And it's not like AWB had a world class all-round game defensively. How many times did we concede because his positioning was awful, or couldn't defend his back post, or just had a major lapse of concentration?
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Not initially no. I think it’s clear even at 23 that Zirkzee is still raw. His trajectory looks like he’s a late bloomer so whilst not writing him off I struggle to see him delivering high goal and assist numbers this season. I think this current United is also worse than the United Sancho joined under Ole especially as an attacking unit.
I agree AWB defensive qualities were restricted to certain areas but re-watch the first Diaz goal and watch Mazraoui through it. He literally shows zero awareness, at least with AWB whilst yes he may have been positioned badly, he’d have sprinted back to slide tackle. Mazraoui essentially gives up. He’s got off really lightly tbh cos it was horrendous to see.
 
Ludens the Red said:
Yeah deffo, I think we should have looked at someone more proven with end product than Zirkzee.

Not initially no. I think it’s clear even at 23 that Zirkzee is still raw. His trajectory looks like he’s a late bloomer so whilst not writing him off I struggle to see him delivering high goal and assist numbers this season. I think this current United is also worse than the United Sancho joined under Ole especially as an attacking unit.
I agree AWB defensive qualities were restricted to certain areas but re-watch the first Diaz goal and watch Mazraoui through it. He literally shows zero awareness, at least with AWB whilst yes he may have been positioned badly, he’d have sprinted back to slide tackle. Mazraoui essentially gives up. He’s got off really lightly tbh cos it was horrendous to see.
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I think Zirkzee has the tools to become a deadly out and out number 9, but he's not that kind of player right now, and even if he goes on and develops into something like that, it won't be for a few years yet, but that's fine, because he was brought in for being a facilitator type "9.5", not because we want great end product from him. You can basically consider it a bonus that he might develop into something great later in his career, but he's a really useful player already, and we already have a great out and out number 9 with potentially elite level end product in Hojlund. I think people don't realize two thing: How good Hojlund is, and how small the current talent pool for potential 30 goal a season strikers are right now. Hojlund is one of the very few under 21 players in the world who fit that criteria: it's probably him, Sesko, Endrick, Omorodion and Evan Ferguson. And Endrick and Hojlund are already at "final destination" level clubs. We should be happy with our current options IMO, as both of them will contribute a lot this season.

Overall, Zirkzee has added good tactical flexibility to the squad and potentially good versatility as well (although I don't see either Bruno or a potentially in-form Hojlund getting dropped for him, so his versatility will be limited). Another poster compared him to Matheus Cunha and I think that's the best comparison I've seen so far and the one I like the most, but I think there are also some similarities to Firmino, Havertz, or even Kane.
 
2/10

Signed a player with existing metatarsal issue who is already injured. Zirkzee looks terrible. Jury is still out on other players but I'm not impressed so far nor do I see any real value or any improvement to the squad. There are gaping holes in our squad that have not addressed.

And some of the players let go maybe could have been given a shot under a competent manager... but Ineos has absolutely botched that decision. Looks like we are now years away from fielding a competitive squad thanks to "best in class" management team.
 
Rojofiam said:
I think Zirkzee has the tools to become a deadly out and out number 9, but he's not that kind of player right now, and even if he goes on and develops into something like that, it won't be for a few years yet, but that's fine, because he was brought in for being a facilitator type "9.5", not because we want great end product from him. You can basically consider it a bonus that he might develop into something great later in his career, but he's a really useful player already, and we already have a great out and out number 9 with potentially elite level end product in Hojlund. I think people don't realize two thing: How good Hojlund is, and how small the current talent pool for potential 30 goal a season strikers are right now. Hojlund is one of the very few under 21 players in the world who fit that criteria: it's probably him, Sesko, Endrick, Omorodion and Evan Ferguson. And Endrick and Hojlund are already at "final destination" level clubs. We should be happy with our current options IMO, as both of them will contribute a lot this season.

Overall, Zirkzee has added good tactical flexibility to the squad and potentially good versatility as well (although I don't see either Bruno or a potentially in-form Hojlund getting dropped for him, so his versatility will be limited). Another poster compared him to Matheus Cunha and I think that's the best comparison I've seen so far and the one I like the most, but I think there are also some similarities to Firmino, Havertz, or even Kane.
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Got to be honest, I don’t share your enthusiasm for the ceiling of Hojlund or Zirkzee. I like Hojlund but I don’t believe this is a football club where young players are ever going to be able to reach an elite level. The club has been a graveyard for young and up and coming talent for a good decade now.
Maybe if there’s radical changes then possibly: or if Hojlund leaves the club. But I don’t see at the minute how Hojlund career can progress. Terrible coaching and poor influences in the dressing room don’t help young players progress. Until that shit is addressed nobody is becoming elite. I do think Hojlund has the materials to be a 20-25 goal a season forward, with ZirkZee I am completely unconvinced so far. I think to start with he may want to work on his body and become more lean.
 
I think it's too early to tell yet, we have no real style of play and once new players begin to see that, they tend to do their own thing as well.
We are nowhere near being a side with a defined/refined style of play (Sundays game demonstrated that forcibly) where we can go and get someone to exactly match our requirements, every new addition is at least a 50/50 gamble and will continue to be so until we have the basics right.
Another season of struggle ahead, let's hope we are not in the relegation zone after Christmas (cheery sod ain't I ?? :()
 
Ludens the Red said:
Got to be honest, I don’t share your enthusiasm for the ceiling of Hojlund or Zirkzee. I like Hojlund but I don’t believe this is a football club where young players are ever going to be able to reach an elite level. The club has been a graveyard for young and up and coming talent for a good decade now.
Maybe if there’s radical changes then possibly: or if Hojlund leaves the club. But I don’t see at the minute how Hojlund career can progress. Terrible coaching and poor influences in the dressing room don’t help young players progress. Until that shit is addressed nobody is becoming elite. I do think Hojlund has the materials to be a 20-25 goal a season forward, with ZirkZee I am completely unconvinced so far. I think to start with he may want to work on his body and become more lean.
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Early days and probably unfair but right now I am not convinced by either of the 2.
I would have preferred Toney with Rashford as back-up as I don’t see him a the right type of winger. We should have added a winger like Olise instead.
 
5/10


Don't understand any of the clamour to call it good or great.

First priority should have been supplementing Mainoo, we've done nothing of the sort.

Yoro was a big signing, the remainder are not top/1st choices for me, or how I would have liked to see the funds utilised.

Would be very pleased to find out I've lowballed and they prove to be 8.
 
It’s too early to judge now and the rating can change up or down depends on their performance. But on paper:

Signing 2 CBs (De Ligt and Yoro) are necessary because we had issues with our CB last season. 7.5/10 for CB.
Mazraoui might be an upgrade of Bissaka. 5.5/10 for full back.
Ugarte might be an upgrade of Casemiro and Amrabat (I wished he was signed earlier). 6/10 for midfield because we didn’t sign 2nd midfielder.
Zirkzee. 3/10 because we are spending money on striker who isn’t proven goalscorer to solve our lack of goals.

Overall 5.5/10 on paper overall.
 
I voted 7 as we havent seen Ugarte play yet. If hes a success I would go 8. We all knew the likes of Casemiro and Eriksen would never move on. Those Maguire, Shaw and Lindelof must be gone next summer. Hopefully Antony as well.
 
We’re going to be looking back at this window as another disastrous window very soon.

Zirkzee & Urgate already look like duds. £85 million or so down the drain right there. Neither are at the level needed.

Didn’t bother improving our woeful attack or buying a midfielder who could give us any semblance of control in the midfield.

Mazroui & De Ligt have at least looked like solid additions.

But it’s another window with a lot of money spent, for very little improvement on the pitch. If anything we’ve actually gotten worse.

Just hope Yoro lives up to the hype.
 
Malone_Post said:
We’re going to be looking back at this window as another disastrous window very soon.

Zirkzee & Urgate already look like duds. £85 million or so down the drain right there. Neither are at the level needed.

Didn’t bother improving our woeful attack or buying a midfielder who could give us any semblance of control in the midfield.

Mazroui & De Ligt have at least looked like solid additions.

But it’s another window with a lot of money spent, for very little improvement on the pitch. If anything we’ve actually gotten worse.

Just hope Yoro lives up to the hype.
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At this point I’ll be surprised if he does.
 
House Mkhitaryan said:
2/10

Signed a player with existing metatarsal issue who is already injured. Zirkzee looks terrible. Jury is still out on other players but I'm not impressed so far nor do I see any real value or any improvement to the squad. There are gaping holes in our squad that have not addressed.

And some of the players let go maybe could have been given a shot under a competent manager... but Ineos has absolutely botched that decision. Looks like we are now years away from fielding a competitive squad thanks to "best in class" management team.
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Holds up
 
Zirkzee looks "terrible" "like a dud"

I guess some people just have zero clue about the sport they've been watching their whole lives
 
Rojofiam said:
Zirkzee looks "terrible" "like a dud"

I guess some people just have zero clue about the sport they've been watching their whole lives
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You can cherry pick that one thing, but what else that I said can you argue with? And 90% of voters on this poll rated our window 6 or higher. As far as Zirkzee goes, he's scored what 1 goal, cost us 1 goal (and 2 points) and has missed about 8 sitters so far this season.
 
Absolutely refuse to blame the players when playing for a manager bereft of an ounce of competence.
 
House Mkhitaryan said:
You can cherry pick that one thing, but what else that I said can you argue with? And 90% of voters on this poll rated our window 6 or higher. As far as Zirkzee goes, he's scored what 1 goal, cost us 1 goal (and 2 points) and has missed about 8 sitters so far this season.
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Signing Yoro is not something that can realistically be criticised IMO, especially when he hasn't even played so far. He's arguably the biggest talent in his position in the last 10 years.

Zirkzee's role and impact in the team is already crystal clear and undisputable. He's a profile we were missing in the squad, and he improves the team.

Mazraoui was 12.8m and has looked like one of the best full-backs in the league so far. De Ligt was not exactly necessary with him being an incredibly similar profile to Maguire, and a pacey, wide defender like Branthwaite was a bigger need IMO, but for the price, it was an opportunity we didn't want to miss, and I can understand that. A 25 year old elite CCB who's on the same level as the likes of Dias, Maguire, Guehi, Botman, etc. for 38m should turn out to be a bargain in the long-term. He had been a long-term target as well since like 2018/2019 for United.

Ugarte might be a mistake, I'll agree on that.
 
I do think that this window was very good. In both ends; ins and outs.
Maguire aside, we sold all of those who are not good enough.
Regarding incomings i think only Ugarte was a mistake.
1) Yoro; he is rated as top prospect in Europe and no matter how he develops, it was smart move
2) De Ligt; quality defender
3) Mazraoui; bargain full back
4) Zirkzee; looks as a player with potential
5) Ugarte; we got too limited player for big money

Not buying proven goalscorer and midfield playmaker especially, is something which we did wrong.

8/10
 
I want to give the players the benefit of the doubt, but god it looks like another summer wasted on duds.
 
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