How are Arsenal’s rivals Manchester United faring this summer?

After checking in with our our cross-town rivals Chelsea, let’s take a trip up to Manchester for a peek at what Red Devil Armada writer Sourav Mahanty thinks of their summer window so far. You can follow Sourav on Twitter @iSouravMahanty and I really appreciate him helping me out on this article!

My thoughts on United’s window so far are very mixed. For years their biggest need has been a proper defensive midfielder, but, as of this moment, they haven’t been linked with any players to fit that billing. Scott McTominay is not a stout enough midfielder to be the guy defensively and due to this missing piece, their whole team suffers. Harry Maguire, for instance, is a far worse player because he doesn’t have the requisite protection in front of him.

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1547320681599229955

United have been in hot pursuit of Frenkie de Jong since the window opened but the Dutchman’s desire to remain in Spain means the deal will be a tricky one to pull off. They are, however, on track to sign Arsenal target Lisandro Martinez. Ten Hag’s relationship with the player has seemingly been the deciding factor for the player and United are ready to pay close to €60m for the versatile defender. Their first official signing of the summer also came from the Eredivisie with Tyrell Malacie joining from Feyenoord.

The elephant in the room, meanwhile, is Cristiano Ronaldo. Reports indicate that he wants to leave but the club have no interest in selling. I believe that Ronaldo had an overall negative effect on their team dynamics last season and they’d benefit from parting ways with the Portuguese attacker. But we will have to see how the situation continues to play out.

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