Ranking Man Utd’s Champions League transfer windows from terrible to distinctly average | OneFootball

Manchester United will be playing Champions League football next season after Michael Carrick led the side to a third-placed finish in the Premier League.

The money raised from Champions League qualification will help boost United’s transfer budget, but they will have to spend it wisely if they want to challenge for the Premier League title next season.

We’ve taken a look at the last seven times United have qualified for the Champions League and ranked the transfer windows that followed.

7. 2023

Erik ten Hag’s only summer with Champions League money saw United buy Mason Mount from Chelsea and Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta.

United also overhauled their goalkeeper department, allowing David de Gea to leave on a free transfer before signing Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.

Jonny Evans returned to the club on a free transfer, while Sergio Reguilon and Sofyan Amrabat were both signed on loan deals.

Onana and Bayindir both made a series of errors, with the former held directly responsible for their Champions League group-stage elimination in 2023-24.

Hojlund scored five goals in the Champions League group phase, but netted just 14 Premier League goals across two seasons and has now completed a permanent move to Napoli.

Mount has been plagued by fitness troubles since his arrival at Old Trafford, making just 32 starts in all competitions in the last three seasons.

United terminated Reguilon’s loan deal after just four months and also decided not to sign Amrabat on a permanent basis.

Evans is arguably the only successful signing from this disastrous transfer window as the centre-back proved to be a reliable performer amid United’s injury issues in defence in 2023-24.

6. 2020

Despite finishing second in the Premier League in 2019-20, United had a limited transfer budget due to the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Donny van de Beek arrived at United with a huge reputation after starring for Ajax, but he struggled to adapt to English football and started just six Premier League games for the club.

Following a 6-1 defeat to Tottenham, United panicked in the transfer window and signed Alex Telles, Edinson Cavani and Facundo Pellistri on deadline day.

Cavani netted 17 goals in all competitions in his debut season and became a fan favourite, but the goals dried up in his second campaign.

Telles failed to usurp Luke Shaw as the first-choice left-back at United, and Pellistri made just 25 appearances in all competitions.

5. 2021

On paper, this was undoubtedly the most impressive summer window.

United completed the long-awaited signing of Jadon Sancho, who was widely regarded as one of the most talented young players in the world.

Raphael Varane joined the club from Real Madrid, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s return was heralded as the final piece in the jigsaw to mount a serious title challenge.

But it proved to be a very underwhelming transfer window, as United went backwards and finished sixth in the Premier League in 2021-22.

Ronaldo did finish the season with 24 goals in all competitions, but fell out of favour under Ten Hag and his contract was terminated by mutual consent in November 2022.

Sancho failed to replicate his Borussia Dortmund form in a United shirt and is now set to leave the club on a free transfer after three separate loan spells.

While Varane won the FA Cup and the League Cup, his three-year spell at Old Trafford was plagued by injury problems.

Tom Heaton also joined the club that summer and has outlasted the three big-name signings, although the back-up goalkeeper has only made three first-team appearances for United.

4. 2013

Despite winning the 2012-13 Premier League title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge, United needed a refresh with new signings.

David Moyes had big plans for his first summer in charge at Old Trafford, targeting the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara, Gareth Bale, Sami Khedira, Ander Herrera and Leighton Baines.

But the transfer window descended into a farce and their solitary major signing was Marouane Fellaini, who endured a disastrous debut season as United finished seventh in the Premier League.

The midfielder was expected to follow Moyes out of the exit door, but he turned things around to become a key player for Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.

He made 177 appearances for the club and came up with some important goals, helping United win the FA Cup, League Cup, Europa League and Community Shield.

3. 2015

Following Moyes’ departure, Van Gaal took over and got United back into the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish in 2014-15.

He bolstered the midfield by signing Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin, while also adding Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian and Sergio Romero to the squad.

United finished the 2015 summer transfer window by paying an initial £36million to sign Anthony Martial from Monaco on deadline day.

The ‘Schmidfield’ didn’t work and Depay failed to live up to expectations at Old Trafford, with the trio all discarded by Mourinho midway through the 2016-17 season.

Romero and Darmian proved to be reliable squad players, and they both started in United’s Europa League final win against Ajax in 2017.

While Martial didn’t fulfil his enormous potential, the forward still registered 90 goals and 54 assists for United. And that debut against Liverpool will live long in the memory.

This transfer window can be described as somewhat of a mixed bag.

2. 2018

Mourinho led United to their best Premier League campaign in the post-Ferguson era as they picked up 81 points in 2017-18, and the club looked set to be on the right track.

But United had a relatively quiet summer transfer window in 2018, spending a combined £66million on Diogo Dalot and Fred before signing Lee Grant on a free transfer.

Dalot and Fred made slow starts to their United careers but have both racked up over 200 appearances for the club, with the former still a key player at Old Trafford.

Grant was a back-up goalkeeper and made two appearances for United in a four-year spell before hanging up his gloves.

While this window ranks highly on this list, it still feels like United wasted a good opportunity and Mourinho was sacked midway through the 2018-19 season.

1. 2017

United finished sixth in the Premier League in 2016-17, but secured Champions League qualification by beating Ajax in the Europa League final.

Having worked with Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea, Mourinho brought the pair to Old Trafford. He also wanted a centre-back and signed Victor Lindelof from Benfica.

Lukaku had a respectable record of 42 goals in 96 appearances for United, and they recouped most of their money by selling him to Inter Milan in 2019.

Matic was a near ever-present in Mourinho’s side, but he fell out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer due to his lack of mobility in the middle of the park.

After struggling in his debut season, Lindelof went on to form an impressive centre-back partnership with Harry Maguire and made over 250 appearances for the club.

Admittedly, this is a distinctly average transfer window, but it’s still a lot better than the rest.