A Vital Summer For Manchester United And Manchester City

The first of two summer transfer windows is now open.

They promise to be fascinating ones because several clubs in the English Premier League have a lot of work to do.

Whether it be narrowing the gap between them and Liverpool or trying to become a top-ten club again, we’re in for plenty of speculation and eventual transfer moves.

Most of the transfer speculation is likely to focus on the city of Manchester.

United are desperate for success after finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Over at City, they have work to do if they want to regain their place at the top of the table.

It’s going to be all-change at Manchester United with several new signings and a fair few departures.

Already, we have seen the Red Devils sign Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £62.5 million.

Bryan Mbeumo appears to be on his way from Brentford, and both are capable of scoring plenty of goals next season.

United had plenty of problems last season.

For the first time since the 1989-90 season, they finished outside of the top ten in the top-flight.

18 Premier League games were lost, and that makes it 32 in the past two seasons.

It’s certainly goals that United need next season.

Last term saw just 44 league goals scored, the first time since 2015-16 that they’d failed to reach the 50 mark.

That has to change next season, but who else might be able to turn the situation around at Old Trafford?

The lack of European football may make it difficult to sign some top players.

For example, Alexander Isak is only 13/8 to join Liverpool this summer but is out at 40/1 to become a United player. 

Now they have Cunha.

Do they need another striker?

Perhaps Hojlund might have a better second season in English football, but is that a risk United want to take?

It’s only 15/8 that he leaves Old Trafford and moves to Inter.

Ollie Watkins is a possible signing, as he hasn’t always been able to secure a regular place in the Aston Villa starting line-up.

If he does move from Villa Park, it’s 6/4 he heads to Arsenal.

The odds of him signing for United before the second summer transfer window closes are 9/2.

United also seem to be in a battle with the Gunners over Viktor Gyokeres.

He’s 3/1 to be signed by the Reds but only 15/8 to go to the Emirates instead with one of the best 20 bookies in the UK.

The desire to sign younger players definitely means taking the 25/1 on Cristiano Ronaldo again and moving to United as a non-starter.

There will be several departures from Old Trafford this summer.

Marcus Rashford is 8/15 to join La Liga champions Barcelona.

The future of Jadon Sancho is uncertain after Chelsea decided not to sign him after his season-long loan at Stamford Bridge.

The future of Bruno Fernandes still looks uncertain.

He’s 10/11 to join any Saudi Arabian club this summer.

One move has been turned down, but the offers may continue.

Alejandro Garnacho is only 6/4 to join Napoli this summer.

He’s another player who United had high hopes for, but it just hasn’t worked out.

It’s not just the fact the team struggles on the pitch.

The off-pitch unrest needs to be resolved next season. 

Over at the Etihad, Manchester City have to get used to life after Kevin De Bruyne.

They have a busy summer ahead of them with the FIFA Club World Cup to play in during June and July.

The loss of their Premier League title and numerous disappointing results mean Pep Guardiola will have a lot on his plate in the coming months.

City are the 9/4 third favourites to win the 2025-26 Premier League.

At least City did a lot of work in the January transfer window.

The arrival of Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez has already been a success.

City will also be hoping that next season will see them getting more games out of Rodri and Erling Haaland.

Their defensive play often leaves a lot to be desired.

They conceded 44 league goals last season, the most since 2009-10.

One possible signing for them is 23-year-old Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves.

They do need to sign some younger players, as their current squad showed signs of ageing last season, which was a major contributing factor to their problems.

It promises to be an interesting time to be a follower of the two Manchester clubs.

The problems at Old Trafford are considerably more difficult to solve than at City.

Just who is signed in the coming months will be fascinating, but nowhere near as interesting as what the signings and departures create.