Manchester United are willing to walk away from fees they do not like this summer. That is the point of a recruitment reset shaped by the Antony and Rasmus Hojlund deals, with United now looking to sign as many as three midfielders rather than rush into the first option that gets expensive.
Antony cost £85.5million. Rasmus Hojlund cost £64million plus £8million in add-ons, and the move was agreed at 3am after direct talks between the two clubs. Those are the kind of numbers United are trying not to repeat, even if it means the midfield rebuild moves more slowly than some supporters would like.
United's value-first midfield search
The current process is more deliberate. United have monitored six midfield targets this summer, Elliot Anderson, Mateus Fernandes, Carlos Baleba, Aurelien Tchouameni, Felix Nmecha, Andrey Santos and Sander Berge. That is a wider net than the old habit of settling early and paying up later.
Edwin van der Sar, speaking to manchestereveningnews.co.uk, said United were pushed “to go as far as possible” in the Antony negotiation, before adding that the “fee got so high” that Ajax had no choice but to accept. However you read the deal, it fits the pattern United want to escape.
Why the club are resisting another auction
There is a decent football case for the new approach. United finished third in the 2025 Premier League season with 71 points, scored 69 goals and conceded 50. That is not a broken squad crying out for a panic fix, it is a side that needs smarter additions.
The recruitment team seem to have accepted that too much money can distort the decision. Paying more does not guarantee a better fit, and the Antony and Hojlund fees are now being used internally as examples of what they do not want to do again. The club are still working through the rebuild, but the days of treating every target like a must-buy appear to be over.
The next step is straightforward enough. United still need to land midfield signings, and the longer list suggests they will keep searching until the price and profile fit the plan.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →