Manchester United are really making a statement this summer transfer window. They’ve made it clear they’re backing their current manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with a new contract extension and some splashing of the cash in the transfer market.
The Norwegian acknowledged that his club is in it to win it, by noting the ambition Old Trafford has shown in handing him a big transfer war chest to work with.
In a summer that has seen several big clubs yet to make a major signing, Old Trafford have agreed on two huge deals, signing Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho and Real Madrid central defender Raphael Varane.
With a combined fee of more than ยฃ100m for the pair, it might be safe to say that United’s summer spending is now done, unless they can find a very cost effective central defensive midfielder available on the market.
“I’m very happy that we’ve managed to get a deal with Real Madrid [for Varane]”, Solskjaer said after the 2-2 draw with Brentford last night.
“He’s a proven winner and a player we’ve followed for many, many years. The club has shown its ambition with one of the most exciting young forwards in world football [Sancho] and one of the most respected centre-backs in the world.
“As I’ve said before, every manager would be happy the sooner the better the deals are done and this year we’ve managed to get it sorted. The two we’ve got in will make a huge difference for us and as a manager you can’t ask for more backing when you’ve got these two in as early as we have.”
So have United built a squad capable of challenging for the Premier League title now?
Well, they finished runners-up last season, and the only club above them, Manchester City, have yet to sign anyone of note yet.
Spoiler alert: they will between now and deadline day.
If United are able to hold on to what they have (which is likely, with exception of Paul Pogba, who could move on to Paris Saint-Germain), with the additions of Varane and Sancho, they will indeed truly be a team to be reckoned with.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ has regularly appeared inย WGN,ย Sports Illustratedย and theย Chicago Tribune.
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