Having followed this club for more than 20 years, I'm well aware that a promising transfer window does not directly equate to an improved season. Forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, as well as Diego Leon, the young Paraguayan wing-back, have been Manchester United's signings for the 2025 summer transfer window so far. On paper, this team should have no problem challenging for silverware. On the pitch, the current crop of players finished 15th last season.

While both Cunha and Mbeumo have had stellar seasons for their respective Premier League clubs (Wolves and Brentford), playing for Manchester United is, in Eddie Hearn's words, "different gravy". Wolves, or to give them their full name: Wolverhampton Wanderers, were god-awful under Gary O'Neil for the first half of last season, before the Englishman made way for Vitor Pereira 10 days before Christmas. The Portuguese sparked a resurgence in results, with Cunha playing a huge part. But he has always been a rather temperamental player, prone to angry outbursts and lengthy suspensions. Mbeumo formed a brilliant partnership with Yoane Wissa at Brentford, with the two combining to score 39 goals last season. The hope is that with these early signings, both players have more time during the preseason to get used to Ruben Amorim's tactics and carry on their rich vein of form into the upcoming 25/26 season. Fingers crossed.

The biggest surprise of United's first preseason game is that Luke Shaw (bottom row, second from right) has somehow magically regained enough fitness

Diego Leon is still a player very much for the future. Having only turned 18 this year, it would be unfair to expect a big impact from him. But as is the truth, unfortunately, he will have to come to terms with the fact that another injury crisis in the left-back position could see him thrust to the forefront a lot more earlier than anyone can anticipate, especially with Luke Shaw and his glass legs.

In truth, United need touching up in a lot of areas. Left back remains a big issue, as is central midfield (Casemiro enjoyed a brief resurgence towards the latter half of last season, but he's not getting any younger). And for all of the glamorous signings in attack, how United have yet to sign a proven goalscorer is beyond me. Unfortunate United supporters who witnessed the travesty of the 24/25 season unfold will know that for all the chances Bruno Fernandes puts on a plate for his teammates, Rasmus Hojlund is not the answer. Perhaps I'm being unfair on the Dane. The United of yesteryear had experienced and prolific strikers helping the new, young signings settle in and take the weight of the goalscoring burden off their shoulders for the first year or two, but in this current team, it feels like pretty much every man for himself. Perhaps Hojlund could have flourished in a more stable environment, but then again, two years without any kind of improvement is saying something. A proper "number 9" has been sorely needed. Social media was awash with United supporters dreaming of a reunion between new United manager Ruben Amorim and his former player Viktor Gyokeres, a striker who is currently in the form of his life and whom the Portuguese has a good relationship with. Alas, at the time of writing this, the Swede looks more than likely to join Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.

Don't ever question my loyalty or commitment, I'm a lifelong Manchester United supporter through and through

Onto the midfield. Arguably the most important area in football. Legendary United gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson once said that "attack wins you games, defence wins you titles", which is largely true (Leicester City's legendary 15/16 title charge, anyone?), but without a midfield to link them both, one might as well start raising the white flag. Under Erik Ten Hag for the first half of the 24/25 season, United's midfield was continuously overrun, and embarrassingly enough, not just by the big teams. Other teams repeatedly took advantage of Ten Hag's tendency to shove all his players into the counter attack and leaving his midfield exposed. This isn't a bad tactic in itself, but without the right players to cover a large area of the pitch, every United game seemed much like a typical NBA match: Back and forth, back and forth.

Amorim's 3-4-2-1 isn't that much different, with players pushing up into a 3-2-5 formation in attack. This leaves two midfielders to win the ball back and start attacks, but with almost every other team employing a three-man midfield, United's midfield were largely outnumbered and outran, which left many United supporters often groaning, head in hands. I myself am guilty of this, although I lace my frustration with a healthy and colourful string of expletives.

Still holding out for a resurgence from the Red Devils this season? Don't be too overly optimistic. Let's go back to the 2021 summer transfer window. United finished second (74 points) the previous season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. A very respectable record and a strong core group of players gave many supporters much hope for the upcoming season. Two big-name signings, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane arrived from Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively, as well as the experienced goalkeeper Tom Heaton on a free. But the best was yet to come. Four days before the transfer window closed, Cristiano Ronaldo announced his Manchester United homecoming, and social media went absolutely ballistic. For days, all anyone could talk about was CR7's return to the Premier League after 12 years. The Portuguese duly slammed home a brace on his second debut and United supporters dreamed of a first title win in nine years. Unfortunately, that was as high as the mood was ever going to get.

Top 10 things science cannot answer: How this United team actually struggled as much as they did

United capitulated, Solskjaer got the sack, and even though Ronaldo hit 18 league goals in his first season back, it wasn't enough to rescue the Red Devils from slumping to sixth. Looking back, it is to be speculated that the signing of Ronaldo severely disrupted the flow of the team, who now had a megastar to contend with. Word spread that the signing was made by the board and not the manager (Solskjaer carried the same aforementioned worries and was reluctant to break the selfless team spirit he had built) in the hopes of selling more shirts and bringing in more sponsors. A tale as old as time: United's utterly incompetent and a waste-of-DNA owners, Joel and Avram Glazer, putting their greed ahead of the team. It is worth nothing that ever since their takeover in 2005, the Glazer family has not put a single cent into United's coffers. They were more content with siphoning money out of the club into their pockets. Absolute leeches, but that's another rant for another day.

With just a handful of signings and a host of deadwood to clear, United supporters would do well than to rely on blind optimism after three new signings. Been here, done that. I'm not falling for that trick again. I'll believe it when I see it with my eyes. Surely it can't be worse than last season's horror show. Hah, famous last words.

~ Fremont

(Images by Manchester United)