Manchester United are now just a week away from their pre-season opener against Rosenborg and time is running out if they plan to parade a new signing at the Lerkendal Stadion.
Last year, Mason Mount was the headline act of their pre-season opener in Norway, starting a 2-0 win over Leeds United. He was deployed in midfield alongside Kobbie Mainoo and Hannibal Mejbri.
Mount joined United exactly a week before debuting in Oslo, meaning he did not get much time to familiarise himself with his new colleagues. Any potential incomings before the clash with Rosenborg will face even less time.
READ MORE: Dan Ashworth can raise £83m for Joao Neves transfer with three quick sales at United
READ MORE: Gary Neville makes United transfer prediction following key appointment
United are growing in confidence they will sign Bayern Munich centre-back Matthijs de Ligt after opening discussions. He previously worked with Erik ten Hag at Ajax and is considered as a direct replacement for the recently departed Raphael Varane.
If United are successful in their efforts, De Ligt would become United's third centre-back signing of the Ten Hag era, and the second to arrive with Ajax connections. Lisandro Martinez was directly extracted from the Dutch giants in 2022.
With Ten Hag's future at Old Trafford now secured, United can continue planning for the forthcoming campaign with a sense of security. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has assembled his top team, recently adding Christopher Vivell and Dan Ashworth to the appointments of Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, and United now have all of the foundations in place to press ahead with their planning for this transfer window and beyond.
One of the biggest challenges facing Ratcliffe and his top team is correcting United's recruitment mistakes of yesteryear. The Ineos chief has already gone into detail about how he wants to change the club's recruitment policy, confirming that he wants to put distance between the Reds and overspending.
Criticism of United's shoddy recruitment record has been shouted from the rooftops in recent years, not least by former United interim manager Ralf Rangnick. The German was a scathing critic of United's off-field mistakes during his time in charge in 2021/22, often calling the Glazers out for their mismanagement.
But long before Rangnick scared United staff with his honesty, he had identified problems from sitting on the outside, saying in 2019: "Since Sir Alex [Ferguson] left they were underperforming. They haven't won the title since he left.
"At any club, if you cannot get the right players, then you should at least not sign the wrong ones. You are in trouble if you do that in one or two or three consecutive transfer windows.
"Club building is about building the right squad by transferring the right players away and having more than 50 per cent success rate of bringing in the right players. Then you must have the best possible coaches to develop these players."
It goes without saying that United have failed to perfect the art of club building. They have allowed academy graduates to slip through the net for peanuts and household names have exited for free.
At the other end of the recruitment spectrum, they have paid over the odds for countless players who have failed to lay down a marker at the club. They have also jumped from window to window without following a clear and strategic plan.
But with Ashworth now in place, United can start planning with one of the best in class at the heart of their coordinating. Even though his role will cover more than just recruitment, the new sporting director has an impressive track record in that particular field.
Moreover, he also worked closely with others to get deals done, meaning he will be able to offer support and receive it from others at the top table. It has been argued that Ten Hag has had too much control on recruitment at Old Trafford in the last two years.
United have unveiled their new adidas home kit with new front-of-shirt sponsors for the 2024/25 season - and you can get your hands on it right now.
Adult sizes from £80
FanaticsBut with a new structure in place, United's new-look hierarchy should work with Ten Hag to improve United's success rate in both the buyer's and the seller's markets. They all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet and that is something Ashworth has already explained the importance of.
During his time at Brighton, he said: "My view - our view - is that if you keep changing the head coach every 14 months or so, which is the average lifespan of a manager nowadays, and then go from one philosophy to another, you have no chance of joining up your loans, Academy, development and player recruitment."
Subscribing to a long-term philosophy is in United's best interests. They have often jumped from one window to the next without a clear plan in place, resulting in them making mistakes with both incomings and outgoings.
Five years on from Rangnick's damning assessment of United's mismanagement and recruitment errors, they might finally be in the process of correcting them. Most United fans have already accepted he was right.
Get United transfer news and updates on WhatsApp!
Our team of Manchester United experts are on top of all the goings-on at Old Trafford for this week and beyond, and you can get the latest team news, injury updates, reaction and analysis along with inside information to your phone by joining our new free WhatsApp community. You can also join the 50,000 (and growing!) band of United fans who are following our WhatsApp Channel.
Sign up to our community here, and join our WhatsApp channel here.
--
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
