Omar Berrada says Manchester United will approach the summer transfer window with the same “template” as last year, blending youth and Premier League-tested players. He also backed Ruben Amorim’s work despite the January exit, and insisted that United’s cost-c
Ederson’s name is now attached to a new Manchester United chapter, agreed for €40.5million with a further €4.5m in add-ons—and Omar Berrada is already talking like the club’s window has a roadmap.
In interviews surrounding United’s deal for the Atalanta midfielder, the chief executive laid out what he called a “clear plan” for this summer. From inside and outside the Premier League, the targets matter—but so does the structure behind them.
United. Berrada said. intend to replicate the business of last summer. when they moved for Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo after Wolves and Brentford respectively. before bringing in younger options Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig and Senne Lammens from Antwerp. The message now is that the club won’t simply wait to see who’s available.
“You always go into a window, you don’t know how you’re going to come out of it, but you have to be really prepared,” Berrada said on the club’s Inside Carrington podcast.
He stressed that preparation means knowing exactly which positions Manchester United want to strengthen, and also being ready for the unexpected. He pointed to the possibility of exits “we are not expecting” and opportunities that don’t appear at the start of a window.
Berrada framed that work as a balancing act: “We have to be agile and flexible, but we have a clear plan.” He said Jason Wilcox, United’s director of football, and his team are set up to execute it, and that last season offered a route forward.
That “route” is meant to produce a squad mix of experience and youth. Berrada added that United want players who have demonstrated they can perform in the Premier League. while also considering players doing well outside it. The club. he said. will keep decisions within its terms and will not make short-term calls simply to fill immediate gaps.
While Ederson is the latest agreement—€40.5million plus up to €4.5m in add-ons—United’s summer planning is also tied to monitoring Premier League targets. Berrada’s comments place West Ham United’s Mateus Fernandes and Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall among the names the club is tracking.
The transfer window chatter comes with another storyline still unfolding inside Old Trafford: how the club judges what came before. Berrada spoke of Ruben Amorim, who was dismissed in January after 14 months at the club, and replaced on a temporary basis by Michael Carrick.
Carrick led a turnaround in results, and was then appointed United’s new permanent manager last month. But when Berrada was asked about Amorim’s legacy, he didn’t try to rewrite the timeline into a simple yes or no.
He said Amorim “deserves credit” for laying foundations for the season’s third-place Premier League finish. Berrada added that a change in the dugout was necessary, but that Amorim’s tenure was not “black or white” when it came to success.
“He was put under difficult circumstances,” the CEO said, while also describing what Amorim did do: “he did help raise the standards in the dressing room.”
Berrada’s wider message to the club is about stability—off the pitch as well as on it. He said he has a “very good relationship” with Sir Jim Ratcliffe. United’s influential minority owner. and with co-chairman Joel and Avram Glazer. He described how they “positively surprised” him during talks in January 2024 leading up to his appointment.
Under Ratcliffe’s minority ownership. United have pursued cost-cutting measures including two rounds of redundancies and controversial ticket price rises in order to improve the club’s financial picture. Berrada was asked about those steps directly. and he returned to the idea of movement—out of the worst period and into the next.
“The worst is behind us,” he said.
He also apologised for telling staff after the first round of job cuts that there would not be a second. What followed, he said, is now the core of his pitch to the organisation.
“What I see now is a group of about 700 staff, very talented, very dedicated people that are fully committed to what we’re trying to achieve as a club,” Berrada said. “And I think that puts us now in a really good place to be optimistic about what’s ahead of us.”
Manchester United Omar Berrada Ederson Atalanta transfer window Inside Carrington Matheus Cunha Bryan Mbeumo Benjamin Sesko Senne Lammens Mateus Fernandes Lewis Hall Ruben Amorim Michael Carrick Sir Jim Ratcliffe Joel Glazer Avram Glazer
€40.5 million… seems like they’re just buying vibes again.
Wait so Ederson is already a done deal? Or is it just “attached to a chapter” like some PR thing. If they’re still talking about youth + PL-tested players, that sounds like the same plan every year lol.
I don’t get how Amorim has anything to do with this if he left in January. Like, Ruben Amorim is gone so why are they ‘backing his work’ unless he’s still calling plays from somewhere? Also Sesko and Lammens sounds like FIFA Career Mode names, not sure that helps.
They always say “clear plan” and then United ends up panic-shopping in the last week anyway. Ederson for 40.5 + 4.5 add-ons… so like what, they can renegotiate if he breathes wrong? And “positions to strengthen” like okay sure, but who even knows what they’re doing when exits happen they “don’t expect.” Feels like everyone’s guessing and just dressing it up.