Manchester United's midfield frustrations this summer echo a familiar episode from 2022. Frenkie de Jong never got to Old Trafford, but the club still found a way to reshape the squad. The comparison is useful because it shows how a missed target can become part of a later pivot rather than a full stop.
The 2022 chase for De Jong
United agreed an initial £63million deal with Barcelona for de Jong in 2022, plus £8.5million in add-ons, but the move never happened. It was not a clean process, and it dragged on for months while United waited for a breakthrough that never came.
The timing made the situation feel even sharper. United's pivot came after defeats to Brighton and Brentford to open Erik ten Hag's reign, and that changed the mood around the rebuild quickly. The club then signed Casemiro from Real Madrid for a fee of up to £70million, which turned a stalled pursuit into a different kind of midfield solution.
Why the comparison still works now
That 2022 sequence is why the current window should not be judged too early. One club columnist put it bluntly: "It goes to show that the transfer window is long, and missing out on top targets doesn't always have to be a disaster that smacks of a lack of ambition or, to quote social media, an "unserious football club"."
The same writer added: "Of course, it's not ideal, just as spending so long focused on De Jong without reward in 2022 wasn't ideal either, but there are alternative targets out there."
United's broader position also leaves room for a late fix. Their league form reads WWDWW, they finished 3rd in the Premier League, and the season record was 20W-11D-7L. That is not the profile of a side one failed target should define. The better read is that a slow start in recruitment can still end with a workable answer, if the alternative is right.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
