Manchester United's Transfer Plans: Carrick's Vision for Strengthening the Squad
Michael Carrick is not pretending the job is done.
As Manchester United grind through their first full pre-season under their former midfielder, the head coach has made it clear the club cannot afford to stand still before the transfer window closes on September 1.
“We want more, we need more,” he told Sky Sports News. The message was blunt. The squad is better, but not complete.
Midfield rebuilt, gaps still obvious
United entered the summer with two clear priorities: repair a midfield stripped of Casemiro and find proper cover behind new No 1 goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
On paper, they have moved quickly. Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans have arrived for a combined £85m, two midfielders with very different profiles but a shared brief – refresh the core of the team and give Carrick the technical base he wants. Karl Darlow has joined on a free from Leeds to bolster the goalkeeping department.
Tynan Thompson, Kit Margetson and Cristian Orozco have also come through the door, though none are expected to trouble the starting XI just yet. They are investments for later, not solutions for now.
Carrick, though, likes what he has seen 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.
“So the players that we've brought 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.”
That last line is doing the heavy lifting. United’s business has eased some concerns, but it has not quietened the fanbase. The mood around Old Trafford is restless. Supporters want more, and Carrick is openly pushing in the same direction.
“We want more, we need more. 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 noise, a familiar face has walked back into the training ground.
Marcus Rashford has been reintegrated into Carrick’s squad for pre-season after Barcelona chose not to trigger their £26m buy option at the end of his loan spell. The England forward spent the whole of last season at the Camp Nou and has not played for United since December 2024.
Now he could make his first appearance back in United colours this weekend in a friendly against Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan – a manager Rashford previously fell out with before his first loan move to Aston Villa.
Carrick is determined to strip away the drama and treat Rashford like any other returning player.
“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.”
His return changes the market, too. With Rashford back and training well, the idea of signing a new centre-forward before the deadline has drifted down the list of priorities. For now, Carrick sees his solution up front in-house.
Left-back search and the final pieces
So where next?
United’s recruitment team are focused on a left-back and, if the right opportunity appears, a third central midfielder. The forward line, barring a late twist, is expected to stay as it is.
The club have already explored a move for Lewis Hall, only to be told by Newcastle that the full-back is not for sale. That forced them to look elsewhere. Fulham’s Antonee Robinson has been assessed as an option, his attacking instincts fitting the profile of what Carrick wants on that flank.
Harry Amass has featured in pre-season and shown promise, but the expectation is that he will leave before the end of the window, which only sharpens the need for a more established option.
United’s long-standing admiration for Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly remains. His versatility is the obvious attraction: he can operate at left-back and in midfield, theoretically ticking off two problem areas in one signing. Whether United decide to move on that interest now or wait for a future window is still unclear.
There is also a scenario where no third midfielder arrives at all. With Tielemans and Santos already through the door, the club have not ruled out closing the window with what they have in the middle of the pitch.
Carrick, though, has nailed his colours to the mast. The squad is stronger, the direction clearer, but the work is not finished. With the clock ticking towards September 1, United’s next move will say plenty about how serious they are about turning this rebuild into a genuine challenge.
