Manchester United have been handed a transfer update which should worry supporters.
To say Ineos have got off to a disappointing start at United is an understatement. Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos group took control of football operations at Old Trafford, the Reds have lurched from one crisis to another.
Keeping Erik ten Hag in charge, despite speaking to other candidates last summer, before signing players suited to his system and then sacking him months later was a first significant misstep. Dan Ashworth's shock departure from M16 then followed, all as United continued to labour on the pitch.
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Ruben Amorim's arrival as Ten Hag's successor has failed to spark the kind of significant improvement that many had in mind as the side sit 12th in the top-flight table, their lowest-ever position at this stage of a Premier League season. In fairness to Amorim there have been signs of life in 2025.
Good performances away at Liverpool and Arsenal have preceded United's current three-match winning run. The 3-1 defeat to Brighton is the Reds' only loss so far this year.
But the latest transfer rumour has signalled that Ineos have not learnt from previous mistakes. It has been relayed this week that United are exploring a summer deal for Sporting's Geovany Quenda - as reported by the Manchester Evening News earlier in the season.
Whilst the 17-year-old is clearly talented, having broken into the Sporting team at such a young age, the fact he worked under Amorim before hints at a worrying trend, with another of his former players, Viktor Gyokeres, also linked. Although Gyokeres is clearly one of the world's best strikers who will be in demand this summer, it again hints at a lack of imagination from the club.
In previous summers, United bought players familiar to Ten Hag who had played under him in the Dutch Eredivisie. Former Ajax players, including Antony, Andre Onana, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, and Noussair Mazraoui, all arrived at the Reds under Ten Hag, but only the latter two have been considered reasonably successful signings so far.
If United and Ten Hag got their way, they would have also signed another former Ajax prodigy, Frenkie de Jong, from Barcelona in the summer of 2022. It's turned out to be a baffling transfer policy, which has set the club back for years and arguably contributed to their current struggles with PSR.
It's too early to definitively say that United will follow a similar pattern in the transfer market under Amorim as they did with his predecessor. The imminent arrival of Patrick Dorgu from Lecce suggested perhaps not.
However, there will be some concern that United are again going back over old ground and judging by Ineos' start at the club, fans have every right to be worried.
