Premier League Preview: Manchester United

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·16 agosto 2025

Premier League Preview: Manchester United

Last year’s finish: 15th
First match: Sunday, August 17 11:30am ET vs. Arsenal
Where they’ll be after five: 2 pts. with 0W, 2D, 3L

Dumpster fire is an expression thrown around quite a bit, but it truly defined United’s 24-25 season. From the mid-season coaching change, to the insipid loss to Spurs in the Europa League, to the off-pitch drama surrounding staff redundancies, nothing went right for the Red Devils. And I hate to say it… it won’t get better…

Transfer News

…But it won’t be for lack of spending. Sure, the tea lady and your usual ticket-taker have all been furloughed to save the piddling pounds they earned on game day, but there’s no problem in spending $286.3M on some new players. “Some” is generous. It’s really three: Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbuemo, and Benjamin Šeško.

OneFootball Video

It’s important to note that Man U has not sold a single player for profit so far in the summer window. But they are getting increasingly desperate to do so, as $286M is spending could bring the full weight of the PSR (Profit & Sustainability Rules) upon them. Eight have been loaded out, three released, and one retired (Jonny Evans, who was the only remaining player to have served under Sir Alex Ferguson). But among the current squad, these are the ones they’d be most interested in offloading.

Jadon Sancho. Chelsea paid $6.8M to avoid NOT buying him. That’s not a good look.
Alejandro Garnacho. The Argentine is rumored to be on Amorim’s shit list after griping on social media about playing time. The club wants between $80-100M, which is patently absurd. As time goes on, that price will only drop.
Rasmus Højlund. Sure, he tries hard. But you want a striker to score, which he only did FOUR times in the league. Haaland scored four times with his eyes closed.

Season Outlook

It’s probably not going to be as dire as last season, but this won’t be the recovery supporters are hoping for. One huge plus on the playing side (if not the financial side) is the absence of any European competition. This should allow Ruben Amorim a little more space to tinker with line-ups to find the right chemistry. But he shouldn’t wait too long. He was given incredible leeway last season; the powers that be won’t be so forgiving this year.

Key Players

You don’t spend that much money and not expect dividends from the three newest signings. But here are some others to watch.

Forward Chido Obi-Martin has been with the youth academy but might make some appearances this year.
Midfield Amad Diallo’s four-month recovery was devastating to his career. He was all up to be the next thing; now he’ll be competing for minutes with everyone else. Antony may or may not put on red again. He was amazing with Real Betis on loan, the club must have been asking for an exorbitant fee to make that permanent.
Defender With no new signings here, and their performance last season not world-class, expect to see a lot of questions fired their way. Noussair Mazraoui is a real gem: hard as nails, calm as a zen priest and sturdy as all heck (he played 57 games last season). Harry Maguire has a knack for scoring crucial goals, but he’s also slow, prone to foul and a bit past his prime. Lisandro Martínez was the shit before he ruptured that ACL back in February. His return should be a big emotional boost for the club.
Goalkeeper Yes, André Onana is still the #1. Yes, we will still be asking why this is the case after he commits a howler.

Other Bits

This opening match vs. Arsenal is a real litmus test. I think they’ll lose, but more important will be HOW they lose. If it’s a no-holds-barred bare-knuckle brawl so bit it, at least the side has some fight. But if they roll over and expose the belly….