The Manchester United fans here in the Transfer Tavern are still beside themselves, after what was a sensational transfer window for them.
Things all started kicking off once Jose Mourinho was appointed manager of their club, but few would have expected such big names to come in straight away.
Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were the three stand out names and have certainly been three of the most popular on United fans’ shirts here in the Tavern.
They’re already expecting the title back at Old Trafford too and with the start they’ve had who can blame them.
The newly assembled squad looks to have gelled quickly then, but could have it been even better? Our landlord certainly thinks so especially given the side they could have had with a few of the extra signings in this list…
David De Gea
David De Gea is one of the two best goalkeepers in the world – the other being Manuel Neuer so United were not going to improve on him in anyway in the window.
They’ll be over the moon he’s stayed at the club and if the Red Devils do win the title, his role will have been just as important as that of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic further up the field without question.
Fabinho
The Manchester Evening News was one of many media outlets expecting the Brazilian right-back to join the club but a deal never materialised.
An out-and-out right sided defensive player it would have made sense to sign him and see him challenge Antonio Valencia for the role.
Especially because the Ecuadorian is being played out of position by Mourinho.
Eric Bailly
Bailly joined from Villarreal and has instantly settled in as well as looking like a pretty decent replacement for Rio Ferdinand at the club at last.
The centre-half reads the game exceptionally well for a player his age, but can also play and in the current era of football we are in that is of vital importance.
He’ll be the heart of the Old Trafford defence for years to come.
Jose Fonte
Mourinho missed out on compatriot Jose Fonte this summer as he looked to add further to Eric Bailly at the back.
Chris Smalling is back from injury and should be able to take the position alongside the Frenchman, but past that, the squad is quite thin with Daley Blind a makeshift centre-half, so Fonte would have been an ideal capture.
He’s as solid as they come and very rarely makes mistakes.
Luke Shaw
Shaw looks back to the form he was in before that nasty leg break in the Champions League last season.
Question marks over a player’s future are always going to come up after an injury like that but the former Southampton man has answered them emphatically, flying up and down the left side.
Like Bailly, he’s another player that should be around for years at United.
N’Golo Kante
The new Chelsea signing has come out and said he could have joined United this summer before opting for Stamford Bridge, leaving the Red Devils fans to wonder at what a midfield they could have had.
Kante is world class and a far better player than Marouane Fellaini, so it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest United would have walked the league if they’d signed him.
Paul Pogba
The main attraction of the transfer window in this country.
It stretched out for weeks but eventually went through and now Paul Pogba is a Manchester United player again. T
he club will be hoping he can win games by himself as they hunt down the title and for a man who changes his hairstyle nearly every week, he’ll certainly be confident he can do that too.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Pogba may have been the headline act but it could transpire, once in the team, that the former Dortmund man is the signing of the season.
He’s had a slow start to Premier League life but once he’s fully fit and on form opposition defences won’t know what to do with him.
The Armenian is a real threat and United have done superbly to get him on their books.
Wayne Rooney
The captain has a big season ahead of him as he looks to prove his worth to a growing group of critics.
He’s arguably been mismanaged in recent seasons as United looked to rally around his talent, but under Mourinho that shouldn’t happen and he’ll be able to play his natural game.
If he does and reaches the level he can, United’s best player might just not have come in this window, he came from Everton over a decade ago.
Antoine Griezmann
At the very beginning of this Summer the Manchester Evening News reported that Griezmann was a Mourinho target and if it had gone through, the whole of Europe would have taken note.
The Frenchman is absolutely top drawer and came so close to firing his nation to EURO 2016 glory.
That, like the move, never happened but you can still hear the sighs of relief around the league it didn’t.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
He’s hit the ground running and why was anyone surprised.
The Swede has scored goals for fun wherever he’s been picking innumerable trophies and now he’s here to complete his journey and win the Premier League.
Goals against Bournemouth and Southampton have seen him an early contender for the Golden Boot this year, and there’s no doubt he’ll be there in the latter stages too.
