"We need more, we keep looking for how we can do that, so that never stops." Michael Carrick said some version of that four times in a 25-minute press conference this week. When a manager repeats himself that often, it usually means he isn't getting what he's asking for.
United have spent £85 million this summer on Karl Darlow, Andrey Santos, and Youri Tielemans. Not bad on paper. But their last completed deal was a month ago, fewer than three weeks remain in the window, and Carrick has already flagged a left-back and a central midfielder as unfilled needs — heading into a season that includes Champions League football for the first time in years.
The spending gap is becoming a problem
The context makes the situation sharper. United have been outspent by Ipswich Town and Coventry City this summer. They remain the only so-called big six club yet to spend £100 million on a single player — Manchester City, Chelsea, and Spurs have all cleared that bar, while Liverpool have done it twice in 2025 and may do it again if they land Bradley Barcola.
Meanwhile, the club-record fee at Old Trafford is still the £89 million paid for Paul Pogba. A decade ago. Carrick acknowledged that record may eventually need breaking, but carefully: "It needs to be the right player and a better player for what we've got." That's a reasonable position. It's also a convenient one when the money isn't there.
A squad stretched across four competitions, with gaps at left-back and in midfield, is a genuine injury or suspension away from a selection crisis by October. That's not pessimism — that's fixture math. United's title odds, already modest, don't improve the thinner this group runs.
At least Santos looks like a win
Carrick was notably animated when discussing Andrey Santos, the 21-year-old midfielder who arrived from Chelsea for £50 million. "He's so positive, so mature, so switched on — he wants to learn. He comes in straight away and he's trying to help other players." For a young player dropped into a club under pressure, that temperament matters as much as the ability.
Whether Santos can carry the weight of being United's marquee summer addition — rather than one piece of a deeper rebuild — depends entirely on what happens before the window closes. Carrick is pushing. The question is whether anyone is pushing back from the other side of the desk.
