Ranking the eight Man Utd signings made on Jason Wilcox’s watch
With Jason Wilcox under pressure for failing to strengthen Manchester United as necessary, we’re ranking the signings he has managed to make.
Wilcox took over as director of football at Old Trafford in 2024, making him the face of United’s recruitment.
Which has prompted plenty of criticism, led by Lisandro Martinez, over a failure to furnish Michael Carrick with the squad necessary to mount a credible push in the Premier League and Champions League.
Wilcox can point to eight senior signings made on his watch, and presumably did so in a frank meeting with the punished Martinez. Here’s how we’ve ranked them…
8) Karl Darlow We’re not really saying Darlow was the worst signing Wilcox has made. But it is certainly the least consequential and, presumably, the easiest.
The Wales goalkeeper was out of contract at Leeds United and, at 36, approaching the point in his career when a big club bench feels like a cosy place to ease into retirement.
Sure, Darlow will get the odd game here and there – though fewer now than he might have hoped after he conceded three on his debut when United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brighton. But Darlow will almost certainly leave Old Trafford, whenever that may be, having made little to no tangible impact. And that’s absolutely fine.
7) Andrey Santos United fans were somewhat taken aback when, out of nowhere, it was announced that a £50million move had been agreed for Santos.
“Ok,” they thought. “We need midfielders, we’re not sure what type of midfielder he is, but some Chelsea fans seem a bit reluctant to do the deal, so maybe he’s decent?”
They are still waiting for the answers to any and all questions which popped up. And it may be that they are waiting for a good while longer because it is difficult to see where Santos fits in the picture, especially while he gets his feet under the table at Old Trafford.
Actually, right now, it’s not so hard: he’s fourth in the pecking order, behind Baleba, Mainoo and Tielemans.
Was it an efficient use of £50million when funds are tight and there are holes to be filled elsewhere? Almost certainly not. Santos was probably a large part of the midfield rebuild plan at the start of the window, but come the end of it, the picture obviously changed.
That is not to say that Santos won’t go on to have a good career at Old Trafford but he needs to make more of the opportunities he gets to establish himself since they may be more limited than he – and Wilcox – anticipated.
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6) Youri Tielemans There is no question that Tielemans was an opportunistic signing by Wilcox. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When a player of his quality becomes available, in a position United needed, at the price Villa had to accept, then it makes sense to do the deal.
What is rather less logical is pairing the 29-year-old with Kobbie Mainoo. As a double pivot, neither has the mobility to cover the ground and teams have long since sussed that swamping them is easily achieved.
That’s fine, because unless we’re giving Wilcox and his brains trust more credit than they merit, we doubt that was ever the plan.
We can see Tielemans being more effective, either alongside Baleba or perhaps Santos, or higher in the 10, where he played at Atletico Madrid.
5) Benjamin Sesko United look a different team with Sesko in it. Not necessarily because he’s so good at what he does, more because he’s the only one who does it.
Carrick does not have another true No.9. Sure, there are false 9s and even and 9s and a half, but Sesko offers an aerial threat as a target man that United cannot get from anyone else right now.
That is a huge problem which Wilcox has inexplicably failed to address because Sesko is far from unbreakable. As illustrated by his current absence which no one seems to know the duration or endpoint of.
Given United’s current insistence on recruiting for only one department at a time, it might be 2028 before Wilcox gets around to a job that really needed to be done last summer.
In the meantime, Sesko needs to get fit and stay that way.
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4) Bryan Mbeumo Mbeumo is having to fill Sesko’s role while the centre-forward nurses his shin injury, but playing with his back to goal doesn’t much suit the Cameroonian.
When Mbeumo was signed, he was an ideal fit as one of two wider 10s in Ruben Amorim’s precious system. And the £65million signing made a very decent fist of his first season at Old Trafford, eventually finishing as joint top scorer with 12 goals in all competitions.
But the problem with hiring and recruiting for a manager so wedded to a system is that players can become obsolete when that manager leaves and takes his system with him.
Mbeumo, of course, is not that but his role has certainly had to change and he does not look as comfortable as an out-and-out right winger as he did starting in the pockets of space inside.
For now, though, it is his turn to serve as back-up centre-forward before returning to the flank to scrap with Amad for a starting spot.
3) Matheus Cunha A lot of what was said about Mbeumo applies to Cunha too. But the Brazilian seems more at home when starting wider. Certainly more so than when he shifted into the middle as Carrick’s first attempt to replace Sesko.
Cunha had a very fine first season at Old Trafford and became a fans’ favourite. This term, though, he has a fight with Marcus Rashford on his hands that neither player, nor the manager, expected or wanted.
We expect him to come out on top, if only through sheer desire. United need to give Rashford a platform in an attempt to tempt suitors into taking their highest-paid player off their hands.
That, and having to moonlight as a centre-forward through parts of the season so far, has set Cunha back somewhat. All of which, in some ways, can be traced back to Wilcox.
2) Carlos Baleba It’s entirely possible we’re losing the run of ourselves here since Baleba has played only 97 minutes over two miserable matches for United. But it is already clear that the midfielder will become one of the club’s most important players.
Is that a feather in Wilcox’s cap? Not really. United have been crying out for so, so long for a enforcer with Baleba’s profile that it would have been a sackable offence had they not signed one during the one summer in which they restricted themselves to buying only midfielders.
Holding fire for a year at least secured United a discount on the £100million-plus they were quoted by Brighton in 2025, and Sir Jim needs all the savings he can muster while he’s down to his last billion quid.
We’re reluctant to give Wilcox too much credit here since the need was so painfully obvious. But Baleba looks set to be a very good signing indeed.
1) Senne Lammens Fair play to Wilcox and United. Because Lammens was not the obvious choice last summer when it became clear they could no longer ignore just how dreadful Andre Onana was.
The simple solution was to sign Emiliano Martinez from Aston Villa. The World Cup winner had the confidence and pedigree to take on one of the toughest gigs in the game, but United chose to go a different way.
Was that because Lammens was the better pick, or because he was cheaper? Decide among yourselves.
But since United put their faith in the Belgian, then 23 and without a senior cap, Lammens has repaid it. He benefits richly from the comparison to his predecessor, but it takes some balls for an inexperienced goalkeeper to step up into what Gary Neville calls the ‘hardest position in the English game’.
Of course, Lammens is only a few drops from being pinned as a calamity but that seems unlikely. It seems like United might have their goal locked down as securely as it could be with this back four for a good while to come.
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