2024/25: INEOS, Sir Jim, and a New Era for Manchester United

in their two new additions--kevin danso and george ilenikhena--manchester united have addressed their top priority positions early on the in transfer window.

in kevin danso, united identified a powerful presence in the backline who is young, but also has plenty of experience as a mainstay in the starting eleven. nagelsmann will look to danso's physicality and aerial presence to compliment lisandro martinez, and hopes to establish and strengthen that partnership during preseason. danso nearly joined napoli in the summer of 2023 after kim min jae joined bayern munich and danso's performances helped lens secure a second place finish in ligue 1, but lens were able to hold onto the austrian centerback for another season. former united defender, raphael varane, returns to rc lens as a free agent after united allowed his contract to run down. varane was part of the lens youth setup for nearly a decade before being promoted to the first team in 2010. 

studied football fans will recall that julian nagelsmann brought exciting young attacker, mathys tel, to bayern munich in the summer of 2022 and had plans to turn the versatile french forward into a prolific attacker. in a similar move, united's manager worked with the recruitment team to identify ilenikhena as a promising young player. the 17 year old ilenikhena is a confident and precocious talent who is blessed with power, pace, and excellent close control. while his youth means he can be aggressive and make the wrong decision here and there, there's a definite talent there, and one who nagelsmann believes he can develop into the next great striker. 

with malacia's forced absence from football and benfica taking up the permanent option for alvaro fernandez, it's believed nagelsmann will set his sights on a young left-back who can seamlessly rotate with the injury-prone luke shaw. french giants paris saint-germain have shown interest in casemiro, as well, which means united are ramping up their efforts to narrow down their search for a defensive midfielder.