Manchester United's Transfer Strategy: Carrick's Call for More

Michael Carrick is not hiding behind polite platitudes. With the clock ticking towards the September 1 deadline, the Manchester United head coach has made it clear: this squad is not finished.

“We want more, we need more,” he told Sky Sports News, a line that will land neatly with a restless fanbase watching the window edge towards its climax.

Business done – and business still to do

United moved early in midfield, the area ringed in red ink once Casemiro departed. Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans have arrived for a combined £85m, reshaping the core of Carrick’s first full-season project at Old Trafford. Karl Darlow has joined on a free from Leeds to back up new No 1 Senne Lammens.

There has been quieter business too. Tynan Thompson, Kit Margetson and Cristian Orozco are in the building, but none are expected to trouble the first-team pecking order just yet.

Carrick, though, likes what he sees so far.

“We’re delighted with the players we’ve brought in, first and foremost,” he said. “We’ve improved the group. We’ve improved the squad in different ways. Balance, quality and the direction we want to go in.

“I think we’ve done really good business and we’ve got some top, top, top players. So we’re delighted with that. We always want to improve.”

The satisfaction stops there. The message underneath is blunt: United are still short.

“We want more, we need more,” he repeated. “We keep looking forward to how we can do that. So that never stops. We’re conscious of that and we’ve got to keep pushing.”

Rashford returns to a different United

Amid the transfer manoeuvres, a familiar face has walked back through the door. Marcus Rashford is back from Barcelona and back in Carrick’s squad for pre-season.

The England forward spent all of last season on loan at the LaLiga club, who ultimately chose not to trigger their £26m option to buy. That decision has handed Carrick a potentially decisive internal solution in attack.

Rashford has not played for United since December 2024. That wait could end this weekend, with the forward in line for minutes in a friendly against Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan – an opponent with whom Rashford has history after a fallout before his first loan move to Aston Villa.

Carrick, once Rashford’s teammate, is determined to strip away the noise.

“We’re really calm [about bringing Rashford back in],” he said. “We just treat it like anybody else coming into the group.

“There’s obviously this slight twist that he knows the club as well as anybody and that’s a real positive. He’s been here all his career, all his life before the last eight months or so to understand what it means. So that side of things is natural. That’s a given.

“I know we’ve got history, but I’ve got history with a number of other players as well, so that doesn’t make that a unique situation at all. We treat him exactly like any other player, and bring him into the group and carry on as normal.

“He brings a group of things that we haven’t got and we want to get that balance with every individual player and Marcus has come back. He’s in good form and he’s been good to have around this week.”

Those “things we haven’t got” matter. Rashford’s pace, direct running and ability to operate across the front line offer Carrick tactical flexibility that could reshape United’s late-window priorities.

Left-back hunt and midfield question

For now, the recruitment drive is focused elsewhere. United are actively searching for a left-back and are weighing up whether to add a third central midfielder before the deadline.

A new forward? That is unlikely as it stands, with Rashford’s return viewed internally as the answer up front.

Work has already been done on a possible move for Lewis Hall, but Newcastle’s stance has been firm: not for sale. That has pushed United to look at other options, with Fulham’s Antonee Robinson among the left-backs under consideration as they seek a more attacking profile on that flank.

Harry Amass has been involved in pre-season, a glimpse of the club’s academy production line, but he is expected to depart before the window closes.

In midfield, the picture is less clear. Tielemans and Santos have already come through the door, and there is a scenario in which United decide that is enough for this summer.

They retain a long-term admiration for Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly, whose ability to play both at left-back and in midfield would tick two boxes at once. Whether that interest hardens into a move in this window remains unresolved.

What is not in doubt is Carrick’s stance. The squad is stronger. The spine looks different. But with the deadline looming and key positions still under review, United are walking into the new season knowing one thing: standing still is not an option.