Have Man United made a mistake waiting until next summer to rebuild the defense – Manchester United plans to fix their leaks by next summer, despite being aware that winter and rain are approaching. It has nothing to do with the club’s recent attempts to patch the gaps in Old Trafford’s notoriously porous roof, but rather with their grandiose plan to build a new defense.
So far in Premier League season, Michael Carrick’s team has conceded six goals in 270 minutes, four of which came against Ipswich and promoted Hull. They play Manchester City at home on Sunday. Arriving at Old Trafford is Erling Haaland, who has eight goals and three assists in seven league encounters with United. United’s failure to strengthen the back four throughout the summer is already appearing to be an expensive error, even though they managed to maintain a clean sheet in their UEFA Champions League match against FK Sabah on Thursday nite.
Surprisingly, the same back four that started United’s most recent league games—against Ipswich and Everton—also took part in the team’s 4-0 defeat at Brentford in August 2022. Four years after Cristiano Ronaldo and David de Gea, who began that game, departed United long ago, Diogo Dalot (27), Lisandro Martínez (28), Harry Maguire (33), and Luke Shaw (31) have persevered through all of the club’s subsequent clear-outs to keep their places in the squad.
The fact that four different managers put together Carrick’s first-choice back four over a 12-year period may be an even more damning indictment of United’s subpar recent hiring.
Shaw arrived from Southampton in July 2014 as part of a £30 million deal that David Moyes started and Louis van Gaal authorized. In August 2019, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signed Maguire from Leicester for £80 million, making him the most expensive defender in the world; in July 2022, Erik ten Hag paid £49 million to buy Martinez from Ajax; and in June 2018, Jose Mourinho paid £19 million to get Dalot from FC Porto.
United’s 4 x 4 defense is no longer functional and may never have been, despite having four players signed by four managers. But don’t worry, United fans. The defense will be settled next year.
Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, and Carlos Baleba from Brighton were added this offseason to rebuild the midfield, while Matheus Cunha from Wolves, Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford, and Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig were added to United’s forward line during the 2025 summer transfer window. According to insiders, the next stage of United’s strategic change will involve a much-needed redesign of the back four at the end of the current campaign.
That’s the aim, at least. It will be a matter of replacing the old with the new and getting rid of the old—the very old, in some circumstances.
Manchester City (£450 million), Chelsea (£349 million), and Tottenham (£302 million) all spent more than £300 million this summer to bolster every aspect of their teams, while Liverpool signed winger Bradley Barcola for £123 million. Meanwhile, United’s £148 million total expenditure went unnoticed.
Even though Carrick’s club is returning to the Champions League for the first time since the 2023–24 season, Shaw is the only recognized senior left defender on the squad. The club’s recruitment team, led by director of football Jason Wilcox, chose not to upgrade on the former England defender this summer in order to focus on signing one in a year.
Rayan Aït-Nouri was available at City late in the transfer window, but United chose not to bid because a permanent move was necessary at the end of a loan arrangement. Newcastle’s Lewis Hall, who recently signed a new five-year contract at St. James’ Park, did not garner enough interest to justify a bid for the former Chelsea player.”You kind of knew that Michael wanted defenders in his interview at the end of the window,” Gary Neville, a former right back for United, said to Sky Sports.You have to think about what would be left if Maguire and Shaw both get hurt, which happens occasionally when they are under duress during a season. That is a major problem.They haven’t been able to defend themselves. I’m not sure how Michael handles giving up goals because he already has his best back four on the field, and I think they will be tracked down later.”
When asked about the lack of defensive reinforcements after the deadline, Carrick said he is content to develop gradually over time.Is a perfect squad ever possible?Carrick said. “You have to always find ways to adapt. When you’re developing and attempting to persevere, the ultimate objective is to reach the top. You have to do something.To make sure that we keep improving, we must take a completely new route. In the end, we want to be reaching our intended location.The situation is what it is in terms of money, what we can do, and what we’re trying to maximize.”
For a number of reasons, United has decided to rebuild the team piece by piece. After more than 20 years of bad staffing and decision-making under Glazer ownership, the club’s finances are still tight. In February 2024, Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group was introduced as minority shareholders with authority over football operations, marking the beginning of a new approach. However, United has shifted away from the upper end of the market due to budgetary restrictions.
Additionally, mistakes created under the Glazers are still being fixed. Marcus Rashford, who has two years remaining on a £325,000-per-week contract, is among the athletes who have largely moved past the lavish salaries that former CEOs Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold gave.
The Glazers went from being extravagant to being frugal, giving big-name players like Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Casemiro, Raphael Varane, and Alexis Sánchez enormous salaries and fees while giving new contracts to underperforming or injured players like Shaw, Dalot, and Victor Lindelöf, who are currently at Aston Villa, because it was believed to be less expensive to extend their contracts than to sign a replacement, according to an ESPN source.
Wilcox and CEO Omar Berrada are somewhat to blame for the unresolved defensive headache, but they have been tasked with solving the complicated issue they entered two and a half years ago. Since coming to Old Trafford, just three defenders with first-team experience have joined the squad: Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, and Leny Yoro.
According to people who spoke to ESPN, De Ligt was not a club target when he joined from Bayern Munich in 2024. But after Ten Hag was given a new contract, United management wanted to demonstrate their faith in him, so they approved the £38.5 million signing. Ten Hag was fired three months later.
Yoro, who was acquired from Lille for £52 million in July 2024, was regarded as a future star when he joined at the age of 18, but he hasn’t yet met those expectations. On the other hand, Mazraoui, a Morocco international who signed with Bayern for £12.8 million, has proven to be a cost-effective addition because he can play both fullback positions. Due to a number of illnesses, De Ligt hasn’t played since November.
The United manager’s defensive options do not convince Carrick’s close friend Wayne Rooney.”You want a squad of players who are going to compete and I think Michael has been left short on that,” Rooney stated on Match of the Day. “Luke Shaw won’t play every game, and with Dalot and Mazraoui filling in at left back [against Everton], we’re seeing too many players in positions they don’t know.””I think the club should have gone out and found players to help out there. You would definitely have questions. I don’t think the back line is the strongest, and the fullback position is a big concern.”
Where will United search for summer reinforcements, and what will happen next?
Hall appears to be off limits now that he has a new contract at Newcastle. Trevoh Chalobah, Ezri Konsa, Djed Spence, Marc Guéhi, and other England defenders have all made transfers this year, but United has chosen not to pursue any of them. Premier League-caliber defenders who moved without United being in the running include Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace to Chelsea), Lucas Digne (Aston Villa to PSG), Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth to Spurs), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton to Spurs), Cristian Romero (Spurs to Atletico Madrid), and Nathan A Martínez (City to Fenerbahce).
Four new defenders won’t be enough, though, and United will have a lot of work ahead of them come summertime.
Martinez is also nearing the conclusion of his contract, but United may choose to extend it for another year. It is unlikely that Shaw and Maguire’s contracts will be extended after they expire next summer. But is the Argentina defender really worth a fresh deal given his propensity for errors and injuries?
Dalot is still a useful option on both sides of defense with two years remaining on his contract, but the Portugal international is perhaps better suited as a cover rather than a first choice because of his lack of defensive acumen.
Outside of the starting back four, Mazraoui is a reliable substitute, while Yoro and 19-year-old center-half Ayden Heaven are still unreliable and inconsistent. De Ligt’s fitness problems raise severe concerns about his dependability. He is 27 years old.
Diego León and Harry Amass, both 19 years old, are untested and inexperienced options to replace Shaw at left back; Patrick Dorgu is another choice if necessary. But as all those names show, United’s defense is inadequate, and considering the difficulty Wilcox and his team will encounter next summer, “rebuild” might be an understatement.
After losing so many seasoned defenders this summer, United must find the players and the funding to enhance their defense all at once after failing to do so in any of the previous four transfer windows. It’s either an impending catastrophe or a grand scheme.
United hopes that’s not the case.
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