Synopsis
Despite bad results and recent ownership changes, Manchester United supporters continue to feel disillusioned.
Due to difficulties in the transfer market, the squad is missing important players like Kim Min-Jae and Harry Kane.
Missed chances in the past, such not acquiring Frenkie de Jong or Adrien Rabiot, have added to United’s current problems.
Fans of Manchester United have long been fed up with the Glazer family’s control over the team. In actuality, though, not much has changed since Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquired the majority of the company last year. The Red Devils have recently finished their worst-ever Premier League season, which was rounded off by a Europa League final loss to Tottenham. Cost-cutting efforts have been almost dystopian, reducing fat so violently that it has started to eat away at the bone.
The team has also had a lot of trouble in the transfer market, and signing players like Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee hasn’t done anything to turn around a failing ship. It makes one wonder if Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation would have been able to steer the club’s ambitious reconstruction with more stability.
Before Ratcliffe and the INEOS team stopped Jassim’s £5 billion takeover attempt in its tracks, the Daily Mail claims that he already had a shortlist of ten players ready to bring to Old Trafford. Of course, it’s all academic now, but it does make you wonder who would have performed at the Theatre of Dreams if an alternative person had been in charge of the executive choices.
Harry Kane
Bayern Munich
Even with the Glazers in place, the English all-time top scorer was strongly linked to a move to Old Trafford two summers ago. However, given the high prices Tottenham would probably expect to trade a top player to a Premier League opponent, it never seemed like a real possibility.
Instead, he decided to join with Bayern Munich, one of the biggest teams in Germany. Two years later, the outcome is 91 appearances in all competitions, 82 goals, 25 assists, and the crucial first trophy—a Bundesliga championship. Now that players like Wayne Rooney are a thing of the past, United is begging for a forward like Kane, one of the most complete forwards in the world of football.
Jae Kim of Bayern Munich
South Korean defender Kim Min-Jae, who departed Serie A champions Napoli for a fresh challenge at the same time as Kane’s departure to Germany, was another player who lost to Bayern Munich two seasons ago. Kim would have been a fantastic partner for players like Lisandro Martinez because of her great on-the-ball abilities and commanding presence at the back.
But the Red Devils went with substitutes like Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro. They weren’t bad signings, but they haven’t been particularly noteworthy. Given that his skill set appears to combine the best aspects of both United’s options—De Ligt’s strength and aerial superiority, and Yoro’s speed and possession qualities—one might wonder if Kim, who has been a pillar of Bayern’s defense for the past two seasons, would have made a more suitable addition.
Adrien Rabiot
Marseille
Without giving bolder, long-term solutions enough thought, the Red Devils have a major tendency to press the panic button. Their choice to sign Sofyan Amrabat on loan for the 2023–2024 campaign was a particularly obvious example of this. Adrien Rabiot was a free agent with a far more extensive resume, even though he did well as Morocco’s defensive midfielder during their thrilling march to the World Cup semifinals.
Money didn’t appear to be a big worry for the team at the time; otherwise, they might have taken their time and made a better decision by signing Rabiot, a midfielder for Juventus at the time who is now a fluid player in Marseille’s midfield. Additionally, he might have been a considerably better option than the £350,000 weekly wager on Casemiro.
Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister
Since joining Liverpool from Brighton two summers ago, Alexis Mac Allister, one of the top midfield players in the world at the moment, has set the pace in the engine room. Having won the World Cup, Copa America, and now the Premier League, he could retire at the age of 26 with pride, having established himself as one of Arne Slot’s most significant players.
The Argentine is the quintessential game-changer, a conventional number 8 who is equally adept at stopping danger, making accurate passes, and scoring incredible goals. If Jassim had taken over the team and recruited Mac Allister for the £35 million their toughest rivals paid—a sum that now seems like daylight robbery—he undoubtedly could have changed some of United’s fortunes on his own.
Ronaldo Araujo
Barcelona
There is still hope for this one, though, as recent reports indicate that Man United is keen to sign Ronald Araujo this summer to strengthen Ruben Amorim’s defense. An athletic, versatile defender who can play both center-back and right-back, Araujo would be a perfect fit for the current manager’s preferred three-at-the-back scheme. Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim are reportedly interested in the Barcelona player, who has only made 12 La Liga appearances this season and has mostly been a benchwarmer, which only makes this fantasy seem more plausible.
The Red Devils are still keeping an eye on another Barcelona player, Frenkie de Jong, two years after a botched takeover that may have opened the door for a serious attempt to sign him. The Dutchman was long-tipped to rejoin old manager Erik ten Hag, but he never made it to Old Trafford, probably because Camp Nou has shown to be a more dependable path to glory.
Lionel Messi spoke highly of De Jong in 2020, calling him “one of the most accomplished passers I have ever seen for his age.” His recent seasons have been interrupted by injuries, but when healthy, he is just as confident and decisive as any player in his position. His most well-known former teammate predicted his brilliance for a reason.
Victor Osimhen
Napoli
Although the world has been aware of Victor Osimhen’s potential since he joined Lille in 2019, it wasn’t until 2022 that the unrelenting Nigerian’s entire potential was revealed. With 26 goals in 32 league games, Osimhen led Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023. He stands tall, has pace, aerial dominance, and clinical finishing. Throughout his career, Osimhen has scored almost every kind of goal imaginable.
A move to one of Europe’s top teams still appears likely for the 26-year-old in the near future, despite a highly publicized altercation with the club last summer that temporarily slowed his progress. In the 2024–25 season, he accepted temporary housing at Galatasaray, where he won the Super Lig and finished as the team’s top goalscorer. He is still among the best attackers in the world.
Vlahovic, Dusan
Juventus
The only real risk for United would have been whether Dusan Vlahovic’s form in the Mediterranean heat could translate to the physical demands and rainy skies of England. Just ask Zirkzee: dominating Serie A doesn’t always translate into success in the Premier League. Dusan Vlahovic scores goals, something none of United’s current attacking options (aside from new signing Matheus Cunha) can truly claim. Beyond that, the Serbian forward offers much more: he links play, holds up the ball, and brings wingers into the game with strength and intelligence.
Kingsley Coman
Bayern Munich
Although Kingsley Coman is equally as ease playing on the right, Sheikh Jassim had two left-sided possibilities on his wish list, including Bayern Munich’s quick winger. Up until 2023–2024, when Bayer Leverkusen ultimately overtook Bayern, the Frenchman was a major player for Die Roten and, astonishingly, had won a league title in each of his senior seasons.
Given that the Red Devils haven’t won the Premier League trophy since Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in 2013, a transfer to the Theatre of Dreams would have probably put that incredible run in even greater jeopardy.
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia
Paris Saint-Germain
PSG entered the January transfer window with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as their target, demonstrating their determination to earn the greatest honors available. Teams all around Europe were interested in the Georgian winger, who was unrelenting on the Napoli flank. However, it was an ambitious PSG team that signed him, and with his assistance, they won their first-ever Champions League trophy.
He is not just incredibly quick, but what sets him apart from the others is what he can do with the ball at that speed. Ambidexturous and capable of defeating anyone in a foot race in the beautiful game, United’s efforts to sign the Georgian have failed since it doesn’t appear that anyone will be able to take him away from the City of Lights as long as they continue to play the way Luis Enrique has them.
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