Manchester United’s 2023 summer transfer window can be aptly described as mixed.
The club made an impressive start and secured deals for Mason Mount and Andre Onana in the early weeks of the market, both of whom were identified as key targets by Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman then managed to bring in Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, the only striker United forcefully pushed to sign, even if he wasn’t necessarily the club’s first-choice option.
But from there, things got a little stickier. United found it difficult to move players on and despite Ten Hag drawing up a substantial list of players he wanted to sell, heading into the last week of July, no-one had been sold for a significant fee. Alex Telles and Anthony Elanga did leave before the end of the month, followed eventually by Fred, Matej Kovar and Dean Henderson, along with a number of other smaller deals.
But it wasn’t quite the summer Ten Hag envisaged, and Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial remain at United, players who could have fetched around £100m in the market.
Meanwhile, deadline-day deals were concluded for Altay Bayindir, Jonny Evans, Sergio Reguilon and Sofyan Amrabat, bringing United’s summer arrivals up to seven. Yet, despite the less-than-convincing end to the window, the Red Devils did primarily sign the main targets they pursued in the market, with no drawn-out sagas like that of Frenkie de Jong the previous year.
There were some potential additions the club considered and a few who United tentatively enquired about, and below we’ve listed nine players who didn’t complete summer moves to Old Trafford.
1. Kim Min-jae
Had David de Gea stayed, and United not needed to sign a new goalkeeper, then they could have pushed for Min-jae’s transfer - there was even a report in Italy claiming it was agreed. But the centre-back ended up at Bayern Munich instead.
2. Jean-Clair Todibo
If Harry Maguire had departed, the Nice defender would have been top of United’s list of reinforcements. Instead, Maguire stayed, and the Red Devils weren’t financially in a position to move for Todibo.
3. Benjamin Pavard
Tentative enquires were sent to Bayern, but United were put off by the price tag. Like Todibo, the funds weren’t available for a centre-back, so a bid never materialised, and Pavard went to Inter Milan.
4. Declan Rice
United never really pursued a deal as it became obvious Arsenal were going to sign the midfielder, but there was interest from Old Trafford.