It is safe to say that Manchester United’s 2026/27 season opener did not go according to plan. The Red Devils travelled to the MKM Stadium to face Hull City in the Premier League on Saturday, 22 August.
Contrary to expectations, the English giants struggled against the newly promoted side, ultimately succumbing to a 2-0 defeat. United looked a shadow of the team that secured third place in the league last season.
INEOS invested heavily in midfield before the start of the new season, signing Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa. Recent reports suggest that Carlos Baleba is very close to arriving at Old Trafford from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Michael Carrick started with Santos and Tielemans as his midfield pairing, but the duo failed to have an impact, with the Belgian having a particularly tough debut. United also failed to find the back of the net for only the second time since the Englishman took charge in January this year.
United addressed their goalscoring woes last summer
United invested heavily in the attack last summer, welcoming Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo to their squad. The trio hit the ground running at the Theatre of Dreams, and even created history by all getting into double figures.
Their performances were crucial in helping the Red Devils finish third in the Premier League last season. Cunha and Mbeumo were in the starting XI against Hull City, while Sesko came on in the second half, having missed pre-season with an injury.
Unfortunately, the trio endured a difficult outing at the MKM Stadium, raising questions over the quality of the attack. Meanwhile, Patrick Dorgu also failed to impress in the left-forward role, prompting Carrick to replace him with Marcus Rashford at half-time.
The English forward was lively, but his future, along with that of Joshua Zirkzee, remains up in the air. The defeat to Hull City gave a poor impression of the attack as well, and former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has now provided his thoughts on the matter.
United need a new striker
Speaking on TNT Sports, Hargreaves suggested that United should move for a new striker to cover for Sesko. When asked if the Red Devils should invest further in the squad following the Hull defeat, Hargreaves responded: “I think they could probably do with another striker option.”
“I think that showed today, Sesko didn’t start and Cunha played a little bit deeper. He’s a 10, and plays very effective off the left.”
Hargreaves acknowledged that the squad is good enough to secure a top-four finish, but pointed out that the team were at their best when playing counter-attacking football. He said: “But I do think with Baleba coming into the team, it is a good squad and it is a top four squad, I just think they were at their best last season counter-attacking teams.”
“Remember the first ones, Carrick’s first games against City and Arsenal. Today where they had possession of the ball they didn’t look like scoring.”
“I think it will be easier when the space opens up. Today there wasn’t that. I think they go back to the drawing board and look at what they can do differently.”
Final Thoughts
United are running out of time to address the striker position, despite being linked with reinforcements all summer. The Red Devils could be tempted to consider their options if Zirkzee ends up leaving.
Feature image Stu Forster via Getty Images
