Manchester United gave a strong signal of their intent last night by securing a hat-trick of transfers worth more than £50 million as Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger prepared to follow Matteo Darmian in moving to Old Trafford.
On an extraordinary day at United, Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger both underwent medicals as the midfielders complete moves from Southampton and Bayern Munich for £24 million and £14 million respectively.
It followed the news earlier in the day that Darmian, the Italy right back, had signed a four-year contract with the option of a fifth season after completing a £12.75 million move from Torino.
All three players are expected to be part of the United squad that is due to fly to Seattle at 2.30pm today for the first leg of their pre-season tour of the United States, which also features stops in San Jose and Chicago. They could be in line to make their United debuts as early as Saturday when Louis van Gaal’s team face Club América, of Mexico, in their opening tour match.
One player who will not figure, though, is Robin van Persie, the Holland striker, who flew by private jet to Istanbul yesterday in advance of finalising a £7 million move to Fenerbahce a week after another United team-mate, Nani, joined the Turkish club.
With Memphis Depay already signed from PSV Eindhoven for £25 million, the arrival of Schweinsteiger, the Germany midfielder, and Schneiderlin, the France international, will take United’s summer spending beyond £75 million with Louis van Gaal — who had been eager to bring more balance to his midfield — still in the market for a striker and a centre half.
United are weighing up a move for Christian Benteke, the Aston Villa forward, with other priority targets, such as Harry Kane, of Tottenham Hotspur, looking increasingly out of reach.
Real Madrid are likely to step up their efforts to sign David De Gea, the United goalkeeper, with Iker Casillas about to end his long association with the Spanish club by joining Porto.
United want to sign Sergio Ramos as part of any deal that takes De Gea to the Bernabéu and have already had two bids rejected for the Spain defender.
Schweinsteiger, 30, admitted yesterday that it had been a “very hard” decision to split with Bayern after a hugely successful 17-year career with the German champions but announced that he was ready for a fresh challenge.