MANCHESTER — The £35 million agreement with Atalanta for midfielder Ederson was meant to mark the moment Manchester United drew a line under a difficult two-year period. It has instead revealed how much further the club still needs to go.
Manager Michael Carrick wants four additional signings this summer, according to The Times, with United targeting three central midfielders, a left back, and a striker — making Ederson the first of five planned arrivals at Old Trafford rather than the centrepiece of a modest window. Chief Executive Omar Berrada confirmed the direction in a recent podcast, saying the template from last summer’s window “will be replicated in many ways,” though he acknowledged no window ever plays out exactly as planned.
Ederson, who turns 27 in July, spent six years at Atalanta making 180 appearances before United agreed the fee. He has drawn interest for his versatility in deeper midfield positions, a profile that becomes essential if, as expected, Manuel Ugarte departs this summer. The Brazilian’s arrival addresses the most visible gap left by Casemiro’s decline, but it leaves United several positions short of where Carrick needs them to compete in next season’s Champions League.
The confidence around United’s recruitment stems in large part from last summer. Matheus Cunha arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford, both already Premier League-proven. Goalkeeper Senne Lammens was named the division’s transfer of the season, and Benjamin Sesko and teenager Diego León added further depth. Berrada, speaking on the Inside Carrington Podcast, pointed to that process — sourcing players already acclimatised to English football’s demands — as the model United intends to follow again. “I think the template for what we did last summer will be replicated in many ways,” he told ESPN.
Whether it plays out that way depends on how quickly the club can resolve several problems simultaneously.
Bruno Fernandes, United’s captain, is one of them. Contract talks have been paused, according to the Mirror, though United remain relaxed about his future — an official line that suggests the club believes an extension is possible while acknowledging the negotiations are not straightforward. As his partnership with Kobbie Mainoo became the spine of Carrick’s midfield recovery in the second half of the season, the risk of losing him is not theoretical. Fernandes was among the finalists for the PFA Player of the Year award this season, a measure of how central he has remained to United’s ambitions despite the contract uncertainty.
And then there is Marcus Rashford.
The forward spent the 2025-26 season on loan at Barcelona, scoring 14 goals in 48 appearances and providing another 14 assists as the Catalan club won La Liga for the second successive year. Manager Hansi Flick has publicly backed keeping him. Rashford himself has made clear he wants to stay at the Camp Nou. The problem is Barcelona’s offer: the club hold an option to buy him permanently for £26 million, which expires on June 15, but have indicated they will pay only half that amount. United, according to The Times, will not accept the reduced fee — leaving Rashford in pre-season limbo.
He is, by most accounts, resigned to returning to Carrington. His contract runs until 2028. His wages — £325,000 per week — are precisely the kind of liability that complicates every other transfer conversation this summer. United want those wages off the bill; they also need a striker. The two problems may become one solution if a permanent deal can be negotiated elsewhere, but as of now the timeline is compressing fast, with Barcelona’s buy clause expiring within days.
Barcelona signed Anthony Gordon from Newcastle in the same window, effectively closing the space Rashford had occupied on the left flank. That development appeared to tilt the balance toward a permanent Rashford exit — only for Barcelona to propose a re-negotiated loan rather than an outright purchase, which United have declined. The result is a standoff that neither club has moved to resolve publicly.
As previously reported, Rashford’s position in the England setup this summer carries its own symbolism, with Carrick acknowledging only that the door to a United return is not entirely closed. That carefully hedged answer is not the same as a plan.
Carrick’s task is to sign the players he wants while managing a squad still carrying the weight of decisions made before his tenure. The Ederson deal demonstrates the club can move quickly when it identifies a target. The Rashford situation demonstrates that some problems from the previous regime do not resolve on a new manager’s preferred schedule.
United finished third in the Premier League and return to the Champions League next season — the first time in two years they will be competing on that stage. The pressure of that return, and the expectation it has generated, is the reason Carrick wants four more signings. Whether he gets them, and on what terms, will define how different this era actually looks from the one it replaced. Sky Sports reported Carrick’s ambitions extend across multiple positions, with the club intent on not repeating the reactive, piecemeal recruitment of recent windows.
What nobody at Old Trafford will say plainly is that the summer cannot be fully planned until the Rashford question has an answer.
