It has been a busy summer of transfer activity for Manchester United so far with a host of new players arriving at Old Trafford.
The likes of Victor Lindelof, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku have been added to Jose Mourinho’s squad from Benfica, Chelsea and Everton respectively as they look to improve on their performance in the Premier League and also compete in the UEFA Champions League next season.
However, despite spending well over £100million this summer, it would not be a surprise to see further additions before the end of the transfer window.
We have taken a look at how Man United could potentially be lining up next season.
GK: David De Gea
Sir Alex Ferguson secured De Gea’s signature in 2011 for a fee of around £17.8million from Atletico Madrid. He did have a shaky start in his first season in the Premier League, but this was understandable due to his young age and the pressure involved with being signed for such a fee.
However, since then he has gone on to establish himself as not only one of the best keepers in the Premier League but in the world and has made 269 appearances for United to date.
RB: Antonio Valencia / Serge Aurier
Valencia has massively improved at United since he joined the club from Wigan Athletic in 2009. The 31-year-old has developed into one of the best attacking full-backs in the league since originally starting out as a winger. He was one of the first names on Mourinho’s team sheet last season and is likely to be a key player once again this time round.
However, despite Valencia’s success for United in the last few years, the club have been strongly linked with Paris Saint-Germain right-back Aurier this summer. If United were to land the 24-year-old full-back before the window slams shut, it would certainly make for an interesting competition between him and Valencia next season.
CB: Eric Bailly
The 23-year-old defender joined United only last summer for a fee of around £30million from Villarreal on a four-year deal. He did have some injury setbacks in his first season at Old Trafford, but still had plenty of time to show what he is capable of.
He made a total of 38 appearances and is likely to be a key part of Mourinho’s plans for the upcoming season.
CB: Victor Lindelof
Lindelof arrives in the Premier League as an unknown quantity despite United forking out a fee of €35million plus add-ons to secure his signature from Benfica this summer.
The 23-year-old clearly has a lot of potential and did impress during his time in Portugal. It will certainly be interesting to see if he can settle in English football as quickly as the likes of Bailly have done and go on to flourish next season.
LB: Matteo Darmian
On paper, the inclusion of Darmian at left-back does look to be the weakest link of this United starting line-up. However, the 27-year-old Italian has proved in the past that he is capable of putting in a good performance.
If he can be part of a settled United back four next season, then we might finally get to see the best of the fullback in a United shirt.
CM: Nemanja Matic
The fact that Mourinho managed to secure the services of the 29-year-old midfielder from Chelsea this summer remains one of the more surprising transfer deals so far.
This is mainly because he has played such a key part in Chelsea’s recent success and made 151 appearances during his three-year spell there. His presence will, without a doubt, allow the likes of Pogba to play further forward next season.
CM: Paul Pogba
We definitely did not see the best of Pogba at Old Trafford last season as he struggled to deal with the pressure of having the £89.3 million price tag on his shoulder. He did show glimpses of his quality but found himself in deep defensive positions far too often.
Now that Matic has arrived, it should allow him to play further up the pitch where he is most effective, and this is a cause for excitement for United supporters.
CM: Ander Herrera
The 27-year-old Spanish midfielder is another player who had a slow start to his career at Old Trafford after joining from Athletic Bilbao in 2014. However, he really started to show his class in a United shirt last season.
He made 50 appearances in the last campaign, the most he has made since joining the club, and it is likely that he will be involved even more next time out.
RAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
The 28-year-old attacking midfielder joined United from Borussia Dortmund last summer in a deal worth around £27million on a four-year deal. Remarkably, Mourinho did not seem to utilise Mkhitaryan in the early stages of the campaign, but he became a vital player once he did get a run in the team.
He looked very impressive in the 41 appearances he made and is only going to be better next season now that he has settled into life in Manchester.
LAM: Ivan Perisic
The 28-year-old Inter Milan winger has been linked with a move to United continuously all summer, and it appears inevitable that the two clubs will eventually agree a deal for the player.
The most recent reports suggest that Inter could be willing to accept a deal which involves them getting a hefty fee as well as 21-year-old Anthony Martial on a season-long loan. This would certainly be an interesting deal and one which could work well for both parties.
ST: Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku’s arrival at Old Trafford for a fee of around £75 million plus add-ons worth up to an additional £15 million from Everton remains one of the biggest deals in this summer transfer window so far.
It will be interesting to see if the 24-year-old can continue his fine form in front of goal for United next season, and if he does, the Red Devils have an immense player on their books.
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