Did Manchester United do enough in the transfer market to compete this season?

Manchester United’s transfer window saw key arrivals like Cunha, Mbeumo & Sesko, plus exits of Sancho & Rashford, but midfield depth remains a concern

Manchester United got a new look attack after getting rid of Sancho, Rashford, Hojlund, Garnacho and Antony but, do they have enough to compete this season? (Photo credit: TalkSport)

The transfer window slammed shut on Monday night with strange deals here and there. For a club like Manchester United, how do we rate their transfer dealings in the just-concluded window?

Going into the summer, Ruben Amorim promised the fans better days of sunshine after the storm of last season, but it didn’t look like it earlier in the window. With the club focusing on players who never wanted them and then the run of good news.

After the Viktor Gyokeres disappointment, Manchester United announced Matheus Cunha from Wolves, and after a long tussle with Brentford on transfer fees, the club announced the arrival of Bryan Mbeuno, and then things went cold again.

What were the real problems of Manchester United from last season? The midfield was a big issue with Casemiro ageing and Bruno Fernandes carrying more than necessary. Amorim’s style was also an issue, as it froze out Kobbie Mainoo and placed too much importance on Manuel Ugarte, who struggled a lot.

The real elephant in the room is in the goalkeeping department. Manchester United lost too many points due to Andre Onana’s mistakes, and his backup, Altay Bayindir, wasn’t any better, which makes everyone expect a new goalkeeper early in the window, but United left it until the final day.

Away from that for a moment, there are question marks about the defence; while you can name a few solid players in that position at Manchester United, their fitness record is something to worry about, and apart from Noussir Mazraoui and Harry Maguire, the fitness of other options is suspect.

Lisandro Martinez is still injured, Ayden Heaven is injury-prone, Matthijs de Ligt doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, and Luke Shaw’s story is well documented. This leaves us with Leny Yoro, whom we have to give some time before judging.

Back to the goalkeeping situation, United showed interest in Gigi Donnarumma, but it was always going to be difficult for a top goalkeeper like the PSG man to choose United without European football. There was also Emiliano Martinez, but it fell through on the final day before Senne Lammens joined from Royal Antwerp.

Benjamin Sesko also joined upfront, and despite the Slovenian’s early struggles, there’s still a growing belief among the fans that they won’t have issues in attack. After these new players, is Manchester United now ready to compete?

United was able to get rid of all members of the "bomb" squad. Jadon Sancho got a loan move to Villa on deadline day, so did Antony to Betis while Alejandro Garnacho was sold to Chelsea and Marcus Rashford to Barcelona on loan.

There’s still a problem with the midfield, and any major injury in the defence can send them back into the academy, like they had to do at some stages last season. Creativity won’t be a problem with Bruno and Mbeumo; however, injury to Cunha could derail them a little.

No distractions in Europe, no domestic distractions until January after United crashed out of the Carabao Cup already, so one game a week could help Amorim to stabilise his ship. United isn’t in a good place in the midfield, however; this is Amorim’s opportunity to earn his stripes.