Manchester United’s first three summer signings have all been completed, with two of them being announced earlier this week.
Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez have both joined the Manchester United ranks alongside Erik ten Hag’s first signing Tyrell Malacia.
This covers two areas that Ten Hag wanted to fill plus a new brilliant full-back option, with both Alex Telles and Brandon Williams rumoured to be leaving the club this summer as Tyrell Malacia slots in as Luke Shaw’s primary competition.
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With Eric Bailly generating lots of interest in Rome and Raphael Varane unable to stay fit for the moment, Lisandro Martinez seems like the perfect fit at United to cover a number of gaps at the club – he is now the only left-footed centre-back at the club and has the ability to play both in defence and as a No.6 in midfield.
Christian Eriksen gives the club much-needed creativity and experience after the departures of Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba and Juan Mata on free contracts this summer left the club’s creative outlets almost solely on Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes.
With these first three signings out of the way, Manchester United will now turn to the rest of the summer transfer window, which ends on 1 September, to secure the final targets.
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It was reported way back in June that Erik ten Hag wanted five signings at Manchester United this summer.
These five signings were reported to be a deep midfielder, a new centre-back, a creative outlet, a backup goalkeeper and an attacking threat.
The first three signings this summer cover two of those areas, with Malacia being signed more a result of Ten Hag’s apparent dissatisfaction with Telles and Williams, meaning there could be up to three new additions at the club.
First off, the signing of a backup keeper will likely be a less significant name, as the club currently have both David de Gea and Tom Heaton as options between the sticks, with Matej Kovar and Nathan Bishop both waiting in the wings from the academy if needed.
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The midfield signing is obvious – Frenkie de Jong. It feels as if the De Jong saga is very much ‘sign him or bust’ with there being no obvious alternative target to aim for should the Dutchman not leave Barcelona.
However, there may be an opportunity to mould United’s Brazilian midfielder Fred into the role De Jong would be playing in the side, as the player has performed incredibly well under Erik ten Hag so far.
The attacking role has only seen one name surface so far, and that’s current Ajax winger Antony.
Many reports have stated that Manchester United have a definite interest in the stylish right forward, however, the most recent indications are that Ajax are continuously upping their desired fee for the player to a point where it has become mostly absurd.
The arrival of an attacker may become even more of a pressing need once Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation is resolved, with the Portuguese goal scorer apparently telling Erik ten Hag that he wants to leave the club despite a face-to-face meeting.
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Ronaldo is back in training with the Red Devils and was reportedly in attendance to watch the club’s 4-1 win over Wrexham in a behind-closed-doors friendly today, where both Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez featured and the former scored a free kick during the first half.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Frenkie De Jong, Antony, Erik Ten Hag
