Man United's successful summer signings provide hope for the future

LIVERPOOL, England — When the ball left Matheus Cunha’s boot, travelled half the length of the pitch and found Bryan Mbeumo on the right, it looked like a routine counter. By the time Benjamin Sesko slid ahead of James Tarkowski to side-foot past Jordan Pickford, it had become the moment that may define Manchester United’s season and, perhaps, their future. The goal, the only one of a tense Monday night at Hill Dickinson Stadium, lifted Michael Carrick’s side to fourth in the Premier League and, more importantly, offered tangible proof that last summer’s recruitment drive is already paying dividends.

Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko — all signed within a frantic six-week window — combined for the 63rd-minute strike that ended Everton’s resistance and nudged United two points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool in the scramble for Champions League football. The sequence was no fluke: Cunha’s vision, Mbeumo’s directness and Sesko’s predatory instinct are precisely the qualities United’s recruitment team, led by CEO Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell, identified when they opted to rebuild around youth and purpose rather than reputation.

“Certainly, the boys who have come in recently are all playing a huge part for us, which is ideal,” Carrick said afterwards. “A major part of it is the character and the personality, and that is a major attribute to have, especially playing here.”

The victory was United’s fifth in six league matches under Carrick, the 44-year-old interim boss who has yet to taste defeat since taking the reins in late December. Eighteen points from a possible 21 since the turn of the year is the best return of any Premier League side in 2026, and the unbeaten streak has reignited belief that United can return to the Champions League after a two-season absence.

Yet the wider significance lies beyond the table. For the first time in a decade, United can point to a summer window in which every major signing has contributed. Goalkeeper Senne Lammens, signed from Royal Antwerp for an initial £18 million, twice denied Everton late on — a fingertip stop from Michael Keane and a low reflex save from Tyrique George in the 93rd minute — to preserve the clean sheet and underline why the club resisted moves for more expensive, high-profile alternatives.

“The goalie was bloody brilliant for them tonight,” admitted David Moyes, whose own 10-month tenure at Old Trafford a dozen years ago was undermined by poor recruitment. Moyes watched from the opposite technical area as the players he never had the chance to work with decided the contest.

United’s recent past is littered with expensive missteps: Alexis Sánchez’s wages, Jadon Sancho’s inconsistency, Antony’s imbalance. The summer of 2025, by contrast, looks increasingly like a line in the sand. Cunha has added metronomic passing to a midfield that had grown stale; Mbeumo’s pace has stretched defences in a manner United have lacked since Mason Greenwood’s departure; Sesko’s movement has given them a nine with the instincts of a poacher and the work-rate of a modern pressing forward.

Even the numbers align. The quartet cost a combined £95 million — less than United paid for Sancho and Antony — and have already contributed 18 goals and 11 assists across all competitions. More crucially, their average age is 22, offering the prospect of growth together rather than decline in isolation.

The immediate task is an 11-game sprint to secure top-four football, but the long-term project is already taking shape. Casemiro, the Brazilian whose experience anchored Carrick’s midfield revival, will leave when his contract expires in June. Identifying his successor will again fall to Berrada, Wilcox and Vivell, the triumvirate who have restored credibility to a department once synonymous with waste.

“I think it’s difficult for me to talk about the past when I’ve not been here,” Carrick said when asked whether the club had learned from previous windows. “Sometimes we’re just expecting players to perform and sometimes there’s a lot more that goes into it. Feeling the environment, being comfortable in your surroundings to be able to perform is important.”

Carrick, steeped in the club’s culture after 12 years as player and coach, appears to have created that environment. His calm demeanour on the touchline contrasts with the chaos that often surrounds United, and his willingness to trust youth has mirrored the ethos that underpinned the Busby and Ferguson eras.

Whether the former England midfielder is awarded the job permanently will depend on results between now and May, but the structural progress is undeniable. United have not lost since Boxing Day, have conceded only three goals in 2026 and are scoring from transitions that bear the hallmarks of coaching rather than coincidence.

For a club that measures success in trophies, a fourth-place finish would still represent failure relative to the standards set by Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson. Yet within the corridors of Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night, there was a palpable sense that the corner has been turned. The goal that beat Everton was not merely three points; it was a statement of methodology.

As the players saluted the travelling support, Sesko lifted his right hand in acknowledgement. Behind him, Cunha and Mbeumo embraced. Somewhere in the directors’ box, Berrada allowed himself the faintest of smiles. The summer signings have not just provided hope; they have provided a roadmap.