Michael Carrick breaks silence over United’s summer transfer plans | OneFootball

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Manchester United boss Michael Carrick has sent a clear transfer message to the club’s ownership regarding the summer transfer window.

As the summer window loomed, expectations were high that United would be proactive in the transfer market, prioritising squad reinforcements in preparation for their return to Champions League football.

There was also a positive mood fuelled by Carrick’s superb run since taking charge of the team from Ruben Amorim. A month ago, United confirmed a series of new arrivals across a concentrated period of just several days.

Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans were acquired from Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively. United also snapped up goalkeepers Karl Darlow and Kit Margetson. Since then, however, the activity has dried up. For weeks, there has been little to report, while United’s rivals have continued to make ambitious moves in the market.

Supporters are understandably growing concerned, although United insist that they should be judged at the end of the window.

A new midfielder is still wanted, while other positions could also come into play including striker and left-back.

Speaking to journalists at United’s training facility in Ireland, Carrick emphasised the necessity of further recruitment before the window closes, in remarks that appeared to constitute a direct plea to the club’s decision-makers.

Carrick’s plea

Asked whether he would be happy with his squad if the season ended now, Carrick said, “I think we’ve got a pretty good balance in all when you lay the squad out, but yeah, of course, we would like more. We would like more, we need to keep pushing for more.”

“Listen, there’s one or two areas where we’d like to improve and we feel that there’s the possibility to improve, but again, that needs to be something that we can do that makes us better and improves the group, whether that’s quality or whether that’s a little bit of depth.”

“That’s something we’ve got to manage. That’s pretty obvious.”

On the possibility of another midfield recruit, he answered, “We always want to strengthen in every way. It depends on if it’s going to help us, and in what ways.”

“It can’t be for the sake of it, but of course we need to improve. It’s something that we’re working towards, for sure.”

United are next in action on Saturday when they face AC Milan in Poland.