Man United head coach Marc Skinner told The Halfway Line he is satisfied with the club’s transfer window but admits squad depth must improve by January.
Earlier in the transfer window, Skinner stressed the need for greater squad depth if United were to compete on all four fronts this season. Yet despite that warning, the club managed to secure just one signing before the window closed.
“I’ll be very honest,” Skinner said on United’s transfer efforts. “The players we brought in have been incredible. If you looked at bringing in experience to a really talented young group, you’ve got a Barcelona player [Fridolina Rolfo], you’ve got a Bayern Munich player [Julia Zigiotti Olme], you’ve got a Manchester City player [Jess Park].
“Their experience in terms of international and club, together they have won 30 titles between themselves. So for me, we’ve got the experience. Depth will be something we need to address in the winter window too. We have to be active in the winter window, in my opinion.
“So I must stress, it’s not about not being happy. So to navigate, the market has just shifted so much that actually, I think a lot of teams would have looked at it and said we need to strategise in a slightly different way. So to answer that long-term, long story short, I think we have for now exactly the right team that we want. But I think in the winter window, we have to add to this group if we want to continue that and give that extra charge.”
‘I have the most pressured job in the country’ says Man United head coach Marc Skinner
The United head coach made reference to London City Lionesses’ signing of Grace Geyoro – reported to be a transfer fee of £1.4 million – saying “The window has gone crazy, right? I’m just hearing about the Grace Geyoro move, like that is crazy.” The Manchester United men’s side have spent over £215 million on summer transfer window expenditure, something Skinner said they will “review as a club”.
“As a leader, you have a responsibility to sit firm to make sure that your players get the support they need and still be responsible for them winning, even under the immense pressure of people spending millions. For me, we feel like it’s something we have to review as a club.
“At Manchester United, I have the most pressured job in the country, I don’t care what anybody says. I have the most pressured job. Everybody says, you should spend this, they should do that. But I have a group of people I’m responsible for, the players, and they need sustainability and they need consistency, and that’s how I lead.
“Would I like to spend 5 million? Of course I would, but it’s just not realistic. The reality is, there’s no way London City will make that transfer fee back for many, many, many, many years. So that’s what I’m saying. If they didn’t have a fantastic investment from Michele [Kang], I understand that and am not derogatory towards that, but if they didn’t have that, then they wouldn’t be able to buy these players.
“I understand our fans frustration as well at times, because as I say, it’s moving quicker than anyone could have imagined. But as Manchester United, we need to review it, and we need to look at what is the right amount of investment to make sure our team stays competitive and wins things. That’s what I mean by competitive.
“As soon as I leave this press conference, I go meet my players to win a game at the weekend. So Istay in this zone, because I have to be quite focused on the task ahead with the players I’ve got. I love the players I’ve got, I really do. We have a great group, and I have a great team that wants to fight hard. As a group and as a team, we will continue to look at what the investment looks like, needed to be competitive and to win things.”
