Manchester United are on the verge of moving two goalkeepers on, but the next signing is still not clear. Altay Bayındır is close to a loan move to Celta Vigo, with the Spanish club potentially buying him next summer for £3.5m. Radek Vitek is also on the cards for a move to Middlesbrough after wanting regular first-team football.

The exits that are nearing the line

The Manchester Evening News put it plainly: United are “on the verge of completing two major deals but where they go after that is unclear”. That is the part that stands out. The exits are progressing, but the replacement plan is still not settled.

United's transfer picture is a little odd because the squad movement is happening while the club's next move is described as no longer obvious, with time starting to run out before the new season. The current league form does not point to panic, either. United have won four and drawn one of their last five league matches, so this is not a story about on-field collapse. It is a squad-planning problem.

Zirkzee and the striker bottleneck

The bigger issue is up front. Joshua Zirkzee's exit had looked likely at the start of the summer, but the club now needs a replacement before approving it. The clearest line in the reporting is also the most restrictive one: “Zirkzee's exit should only be approved if United have a player in mind to replace him”.

That is where the move stalls. Benjamin Sesko, described as this season's first-choice striker, is still recovering from injury and has not been seen in a travelling squad this pre-season. So while Bayındır and Vitek are edging toward the door, the striker market is still the part United cannot solve cleanly.

Zirkzee's recent usage also helps explain why the exit talk has not gone away. He has averaged 24.8 minutes across his last five league outings, and those five appearances add up to 124 minutes. For a player linked with a possible departure, that is not a settled role.

United finished third in the Premier League in 2025, so the standards around recruitment are not small. Right now, though, the club looks more advanced on outgoings than on the next incoming. That is the real story as the window keeps moving and the new season gets closer.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →