Michael Carrick believes Manchester United have got value for money in an inflated transfer market that has seen their rivals spending millions more on midfield stars this summer.
United have paid £50million for Andrey Santos and £35m for Youri Tielemans, and hope to complete their midfield rebuild after offering Brighton £65m for Carlos Baleba.
But the club were priced out of deals for Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes, who joined Manchester City and Tottenham for £116m and £85m respectively, while Newcastle have banked a total of £167.5m from Spurs and Arsenal for Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes.
Despite concerns United have been gazumped by other Premier League clubs, Carrick is happy with his new signings and how much they cost.
‘There’s certainly players that have been more expensive, I think that’s pretty obvious,’ said the United boss ahead of Saturday’s opening game at newly-promoted Hull City.
‘We’re delighted with the two that we’ve brought in, I think, and for the money of course. But actually, take that away, I’m delighted that we’ve got them.
Youri Tielemans came in for £35m from Aston Villa to bolster United’s midfield
‘Certainly for the value that we feel we’ve got, I think we’ve done very well with those two especially. Two fantastic players give us really good balance, a lot within the team, and offer us different things.’
Rebuilding the midfield has been United’s main focus in this transfer window after Casemiro was allowed to leave as a free agent and Manuel Ugarte suffered a serious knee ligament injury at the World Cup that is expected to keep him out of action for much of this season.
As the club continue to pursue Baleba, Carrick added: ‘I think players have always come and gone through history here, and you’ve got to evolve. You’ve got to find ways of moving forward and ways of winning, essentially.
‘I know we’ve got a good midfield. We’ve brought in some really top players and really good characters, which is important.
‘We’re trying to improve the squad all the time. As it stands now, we’ve got some very good, top midfielders to choose from. So I think we’ve improved that.
‘You need a solid foundation through the middle of the team. I think if you look at all the great teams over the years, the spine is really strong. We’re conscious of that, and I think we’ve got a good spine of the team right now.’
United are still in the market for a left-back to provide cover for Luke Shaw, and Carrick does not expect anyone else to leave before the transfer deadline despite Joshua Zirkzee, in particular, being linked with a return to Italy.
Andrey Santos was a £50m capture from Chelsea, United’s first signing of the summer
Asked if anyone has said they want to go, Carrick replied: ‘Not to me, no. I don’t know what’s going to come at us from elsewhere. We can control what we can control.
‘I’m really happy with the squad we’ve got so far, and if not, we want to improve it.’
Bruno Fernandes has also been the subject of fresh speculation over his future at Old Trafford, but United’s captain remains central to Carrick’s plans – even though he will have to protect the Portugal star after a long season followed by a World Cup.
‘I’ve said quite a lot about Bruno,’ added Carrick. ‘He’s been a big part of the team and the club over recent times and had a huge impact, so he’ll continue to do that.
‘In terms of the games, hopefully he stays fit and he’s in good shape. He’s a big player for us, he’s obviously our captain, but there’s still elements where we need to look after him.’
